


No Holding Back

by HunterMay18



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Animals, Blow Jobs, Cowboy Harry, Depression, Farmer Harry, Horseback Riding, Horses, M/M, Masturbation, Sexual Tension, Suicide Attempt, University Student Louis, sexual dreams, somewhere in new hampshire, sort of slow build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2018-09-23 04:26:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9640739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HunterMay18/pseuds/HunterMay18
Summary: Louis Tomlinson somehow finds himself trapped on a farm in the middle of New Hampshire with nowhere to go. With the help of someone, he realizes just how much he missed the farm life, and he just may find love along the way.or the one where Harry is a cowboy and Louis loves to rant about animals, specifically horses.





	1. Day One

 

 

Louis kicked at his car. “Great, just great! Stuck in the middle of nowhere and my car just decides to break down. I’m supposed to be going to spring break with Erick and I can’t even do that because I can’t get there!” He screamed at his mother on the phone.

“Lou, didn’t I tell you to get rid of that car? It was bound to break down, and now you’re stuck. Where are you anyways?”

“Somewhere in west bumblefuck New Hampshire.”

Louis’ mother chuckles, “Where were you going anyways?”

Louis sighed, “Well, I left campus and then I wanted to explore New Hampshire before I had to drive to Maine. I literally only took an hour detour and now the stupid car broke.”

“Like I said, that car was bound to break, you should have listened to Liam. He looked at the car before you left the last time you were home, told you that you needed a lot of new parts.”

“Yeah a lot of new parts that cost a lot of money that I don’t have.”

“Well, you were the one who decided to quit your job because of as you quoted, ‘the hot cashier quit’, and you didn’t want to work there anymore.”

“Mum, that wasn’t true and you know it! I was fired, that cashier incident was five years ago!”

“Sure, whatever you say Lou. But, you should probably call for a tow, before it gets late. Is there a street sign anywhere?”

Louis looked around but didn’t see anything until he looked up and gulped, “There isn’t a street sign, but there is a big sign above my head.”

“What does it say?”

_“Styles Family Owned Farm.”_

“I’ve got to go mum,” Louis looked around before he decided to walk the dirt path, leaving his car with its hazard lights on, going to see if someone could help. He looked around and saw different animals, from horses and cows, to goats and sheep.

He had always loved horses, having had grandparents that own a farm with horses and pigs. He actually grew up with one of the horses. She had been born on the same day that Louis had been born, they were the best of friends. He never learned how to ride her because she couldn’t be ridden. When she was born they found that she had a spine disorder and wouldn’t be able to withstand the weight. But, Louis didn’t care, he still had her as a pet.

Louis smiled when one of the horses put it’s head over the gate when he put his hand out, instantly nudging its nose against Louis’ hand. Louis decided to try and find someone before it got too dark and they wouldn’t be able to get to his car.

As he continued walking down the dirt path, he came upon a small house and a barn. But, before he could decide where he wanted to a large dog came over to him, barking like crazy making Louis jump and back up against the fence. He felt something chewing on his shirt, making jump once more, finding out that it just was one of the cows on the farm.

“Harley, get off the lad!” A strong voice yelled from the barn, as Harley jumped up on Louis and continued to bark. The strange man got closer and clicked his tongue, making Harley jump down and go towards him wagging his tail.

“Thanks,” Louis spoke as he brushed his pants off.

“Could I ask why are you wandering around my property in the first place?” The man, who Louis finally got a good look at. He had shoulder length curly hair that was swept to one said, a very dirty white shirt, wearing bootcut jeans with a flannel hanging off of his belt, and very old work boots, “Well, I’m waiting?”

Louis was broken out of his trance, blushing, “Ohh, my car broke down just at your entrance and I was wondering if you knew of a mechanic close by?”

The man chuckled, “I have a number of one, if you would follow me and I’ll let you use my landline, it’s the only way you’ll get a call out this far into the farm.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Sure, lead the way I guess.”

The man led Louis through his property, the walk to the house was quite far, but Louis didn’t care as he got to look at what else the farm had to offer. He saw large fields of different crops and fields that held more animals than he could count. He just couldn’t figure out how he was able to operate a farm this large by himself. He was finally led into a very nice and luxurious farm house and he couldn’t help but to look in shock.

“You’ll catch flies like that if you don’t close your mouth.”

Louis couldn’t help but blush to deep red. “Umm, your house is really nice. I’ve never seen one so well kept.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I grew up on my grandparent’s farm and they had one of the older houses that looked like it would fall apart any second.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “So, you know how to run a farm?”

Louis nodded. “Pretty much, after my grandfather died my grandmother was too weak to do a lot of things so my siblings and I took over. My younger sister and her husband live on the ranch with a two year old daughter.”

“That’s cool. What kind of animals did you work with?”

“Horses and cows mainly, we had a few chickens for fresh eggs and some goats, pigs and sheep. My grandmother even taught me to shear the sheep so that she could knit us sweaters and such.”

The farmer hummed quietly before he went to find the number for the mechanic. “Here, my phone is in the kitchen. If you need me I’ll me mucking the horse’s stalls.”

Louis nodded. “Umm, thank you...I never got your name.”

“It’s Harry, and your name is?”

“It’s Louis, but call me Lou.” Harry nodded before he left Louis alone in the house as he called the mechanic.

He dialed the number and he got a hold of a voice that was a woman’s voice. “Umm, hello is this the number to call for a mechanic, name is David?”

The woman sighed. “Yes it is, but I’m sad to say that he is in the hospital following a freak accident and won’t be back to work for quite sometime.”

“Well, do you know of anyone else who could fix my car?”

“The closest person is on vacation for the next month, I’m really sorry for the inconvenience.”

“No, it’s totally fine I understand. I wish him the best and a speedy recovery.” The woman thanked him before he hung up, at least his classes this semester were online and didn’t have to worry about missing anything. But, he just remembered that he needs to call his mom and Erick about what is happening.

He called his mom first and told her what was happening. She actually was happy that of all places he ended up on farm, knowing how much her son loved being around animals. She told him to keep her updated with everything to make sure he doesn’t fall behind on his studies.

Then he had to call his lovely boyfriend, Erick, who wasn’t so pleased that Louis couldn’t join him. He broke up with Louis over the phone, but it’s okay he already had a replacement for the trip, Louis’ best friend Aaron.

Louis stared at the phone as he heard the beeping signalling Erick hung up the phone on him. He wiped his tears away before he decided to go find Harry. He sniffled on his way over and then he smiled when he saw Harry riding one of the horses bareback in the field, his loud laughter filled Louis’ ears.

He rubbed his arms nervously as he watched Harry come closer to him after he jumped off his horse. “Your eyes are puffy, why were you crying?” Harry usually wouldn’t care, but when it comes to someone as cute as Louis is, he couldn’t help but to ask.

“My boyfriend decided to break up with me over the phone because I’m stuck here. Didn’t even offer to come get me, broke it off and then told me he’s been fucking my best friend behind my back the whole relationship.”

Harry couldn’t help but feel sorry for the smaller man in front of him, about ready to cry. “You want know what my mother always told me when I was younger?”

“Sure.”

“Be strong enough to let go and wise enough to wait for what you deserve. She found that when she was reading a magazine when I was younger and every time I’d come to her for advice she would always tell me that. Yeah, it might be tough but just know that there are many others out there just for you,” Harry said sincerely, his mother would be proud.

“Thank you Harry, it means a lot. But, there’s another thing, the mechanic is in the hospital and the other person close enough is on vacation for a month. So, I’m stuck here until my car gets fixed.”

“Your mom can’t come and get you?”

Louis shook his head. “She can’t drive after she lost her sight a few years ago. My sister lives in upstate Vermont so that would be stupid for her to travel just to come get me.”

Harry nodded. “Well, my house does get lonely sometimes so I wouldn’t mind you staying for a bit, on one condition.”

“What is it?”

“You help me around the farm.”

Louis nodded. “Of course, I’ll help you anyway that I can to repay to you.”

Harry smiled. “Let me help you get your car, I’ve got some oxen we can use to pull your car off the road.” Harry grabbed the oxen and they managed to get Louis’ car pulled into one of the parking spots for the cars before he let the oxen go back to their field. He helped him into the guest bedroom and smiled. “The bathroom is just across the hall, dinner will be ready in an hour I hope you like lasagna.”

“Anything is fine with me, thank you.”

Harry nodded. “Of course.”

Louis let out a sigh when Harry left and muttered to himself. “It’s going to be a long month.”

Harry had went into the kitchen and sighed as he rubbed his face, also muttering those words as he stared down at his faithful australian cattledog, her head cocking to the side as if she was trying to understand what he was trying to say. He just threw down a piece of meat for her, and she accepted it willingly.

“Harley girl, go get Lou. Go get him to come for dinner,” Harry spoke excitedly and the dog ran towards the guest bedroom she had inspected earlier after Louis shut the door. Harry chuckled when he heard a bark from her and some whimpers as she scratched at the door trying to get Louis to come out.

In the room Louis was crying again, everything that the had trusted with his best friend meant nothing to him, and he didn’t even know why people would do things like that to anyone. He was broken out of his trance by scratching at the door followed by a bark. He smiled, wiping his tears as he went to get the door and was tackled by a dog. “Woah there girl, what’s wrong?”

She just pulled on his pant leg and started to tug towards the kitchen. “Is dinner done girl?” She let go of his pants and wagged her tail as she ran towards Harry who was watching with a smile, only it fell when he saw Louis’ eyes were red and puffy again.

“If you want to eat in the room for some privacy you can, I know everything that’s happened today is difficult so I won’t hold it against you,” Harry spoke softly, hoping the man would reject the offer and just eat with him, but he also didn’t want to overstep any boundaries after only knowing him for a short time.

Louis, however, shook his head no to the offer. “I don’t mind eating with someone. But, would you mind if I got to ride one of the horses after dinner? Riding always got my mind off of things.”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got a few other horses that need exercise, we could go on a ride together. How does that sound?”

Louis smiled, grabbing a napkin to blow his nose from all the crying he’s done. “Yeah, that’s fine.” He finally sat down at the kitchen table and waited for Harry to cut the lasagna.

“I hope you don’t mind corner pieces, I only make a small pan that get’s out four pieces and yeah.”

“I actually prefer corner pieces over the middle because the middle pieces fall apart more easily.”

“I think the same thing, everyone thinks I’m weird.”

Louis chuckled and nodded. “My mom would make my own just so I had all the corners.” Louis smiled, reminding himself of the memories he had with his mom before she had the accident and can’t see, but she still makes do with what she can.

Harry smiled and handed Louis the lasagna along with a glass of lemonade. “Don’t eat too fast or you’ll get sick riding, don’t want that to happen.”

Louis slowed down a bit, not realizing that he was so hungry, and took a sip of his drink. “If you want I can go to town to get food tomorrow and I can make dinner? I can help a lot of different ways if you don’t mind.”

“We can go together because I don’t trust you with my car and you probably don’t know where to go anyways.”

“Sorry,” Louis looked down at his plate, mindlessly dragging the piece of chopped tomato along his plate.

“No need to apologize, you did nothing wrong. It’s okay.” Harry smiled at Louis, and made sure to receive a smile back before he went back to eating his own food.

They finished a short time later, they both having another piece and Louis offered to clean the dishes while Harry got the horses ready for their ride. Louis finished the dishes and went to change into better pants and his cowboy boots he never leaves home without and meets Harry at the stable.

“Ready?” Harry asked, fixing up the girth on the tall dappled grey horse that towered over the both of them making Louis’ eyes widened. Harry saw his reaction, “Don’t worry you won’t be riding him, he’s very stubborn and only listens to me and I don’t need you being bucked off the first time you get on him. You’ll be riding my older boy, Dillon, who won’t hurt a fly.” Harry pointed a shorter chestnut colored horse that had his head deep in his hay bucket making the two of them laugh. “He’s stubborn with listening to rider cues, but once he realizes that you know what you’re doing he will do as you say.”

Louis nodded. “So, what’s his name?”

“This one is Rambo,” Harry rolled his eyes when he heard Louis chuckle. “Don’t laugh at his name, I adopted him with the name already not like I can change it. But, I usually call him Bo because he doesn’t like the name either.” Earning a loud snort coming from the horse, giving Louis reassurance that Harry was telling the truth.

“Alright, so can we go now?”

Harry shook his head. “Not until you put on a helmet. I’ve got a bunch in the barn.”

Louis nodded. “Of course, sorry almost forgot about that.” He went in and tried on a few helmets before he found the perfect one for his head size. He went back out to Harry who also put on a helmet and was already on the horse as he was getting antsy standing there, while Dillon is still eating out of the bucket. “Doesn’t he need a bitted bridle?”

Harry shook his head. “He only bites when the vet is injecting his joints, poor boy has arthritis, but he never rejected the bit anyways. I noticed that he liked it only to have something in his mouth due to his oral fixation that he has, so I decided that I’d just not give him a bit unless we were competing which we stopped when he turned 21 and his back right leg starting twisting weirdly. But, he’s fine otherwise I trust him that he won’t hurt you.”

Louis nodded. “Don’t worry when I used to compete when I was in highschool, I was thrown six times during a show, ended up with a concussion and a bunch of bruises but that’s it. I love riding the stubborn horse’s,” Louis spoke as he went over to Dillon and pulled the mounting block with him as Dillon was a bit too tall to mount from the ground. He fixed his stirrups quickly before he got on him, an immediate sigh left his mouth as he missed the feeling of being on a horse.

“How long has it been since you’ve been on a horse?”

“Last summer when I spent my summer with my grandparents on their farm. I would ride all the horses except for one because she’s unable to be ridden.” Louis grabbed the reins and started to get Dillon to move, smiling as Dillon immediately started to trot as a decent pace, catching up to Harry who had already started to walk off.

“Why was that?”

“The same night that I was born was the same night that a beautiful foal was born, she didn’t stand up as immediately as foals were supposed to, she drank from her mother after she crawled over to her and she passed the meconium within the time frame so the vet was concerned. It turned out that when she was in utero her spine was twisted awkwardly to where she had bouts of paralysis in her back legs. They were able to correct it and she doesn’t have paralysis anymore. Anyways when I was very small I was always placed on her because I grew fond of her and she always wanted to play with me. Once I got older I asked my mom if I could learn how to ride on her and that’s when she told me what was wrong and I was so sad because she always looked sad when all the other horses were ridden.”

Harry nodded, letting him continue, but asking a question first. “How’d she get exercised besides running around the paddock?”

Louis smiled. “When I got my own horse to ride I’d grab her halter and she’d gallop alongside of up for a bit to let her joints loosen up so she didn’t become lame.”

“That’s sounds like she is very close to your heart.”

Louis nodded, his eyes watering, not liking that his best friend had recently passed away from her old age. “She passed away right before I left for school. She was 23 years old, she lived longer than what the doctors had told us, and right in my arms. It was as if she waited for me to come home and then knew it was her time to go.” His hand went to the necklace on his neck, that held her metal name tag off her halter, and smiled at all the memories. Beauty was her name and he loved her dearly.

“I’m sorry, but at least you know she loved you very dearly.”

Louis nodded. “My mom told me that when I left the first time for college she’d always call out for me. My sisters would exercise her as I would do but it was never the same for her and some days she resisted the exercise. She even ran off one day to the point where I had to drop my studies to help find her. Literally it was as if she was a dog because as soon as I set foot on the property she came galloping towards me.”

Harry’s heart grew hearing the story that Louis was telling him, wanting to know more of the curious boy. “She must have been a handful.”

Louis nodded. “I even moved her to the barn where I went to school, but she didn’t like it because of the other mares would rough her up because she was old and they weren’t. I sent her back the first thing the next week after I heard that another mare kicked her causing a nice cut on her flank. I wasn’t very happy about that and I knew she could stay.”

“I really hope that you could find another horse that would be there for you like she was, she was definitely one of a kind.”

Louis nodded. “She really was, no other horse like her.”

“I mean if Dillon wasn’t as lazy as can be he’d probably be like that,” Harry chuckled when Dillon let out a loud huff as if he was offended. “Enough of the sad talk, let’s have some fun.” Harry got into the position and kicked Bo ready to gallop up the hills faster than Louis has ever gone.

Louis looked down at Dillon who was moving his ears around waiting for the boy to give him the signal to go and when he did Dillon let out a loud neigh, rearing a little bit as if he was excited because he never gets to be ridden like this. Louis chuckled. “Let’s go catch them buddy!” He yelled out as he clicked his tongue and Dillon started to gallop towards his owner and stable mate.

Harry’s heart skipped a beat when he heard a laugh that was music to his ears, looking back he saw Dillon gaining on them, even for an old horse he definitely still got it. He misses all the times that he rode him in jumper shows, dressage shows and even that bout of eventing he did with him before his leg was getting bad.

Louis finally was able to pass Harry and that’s when he felt like he was home, he was going to be okay. But, he knew that the next month was either going to be good or bad, only one could hope it was good.

 


	2. Day Two

 

 

Louis groaned as he rolled out of bed as the sunlight shined through the blinds, his whole body felt like jelly. “Ugh, I forgot what it feels like to not ride in very long, good feeling though,” he spoke to himself as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked to the clock and saw it was around seven and knew that Harry was out doing morning feed and milking so he decided to surprise him with some breakfast. He went downstairs and found some potatoes, eggs, bacon and cheese and made some omelets for the two of them. He found some tortillas, warmed them up and made them into burritos as he went out to find Harry, only to find him tending to the lambs.

“Morning Harry, I made breakfast,” Louis smiled stretching out his hand to the man who looked up, giving him an equally toothy smile and accepted the food.

“Thank you, I woke up late this morning so I didn’t get a chance to make myself something. You know what happens if you’re late to milking the cows,” Louis nodded, knowing exactly what happens. “I didn’t even have coffee.” He took a bite out of the breakfast burrito, devouring it quickly after he realized it tasted so good.

“Want me to get you some coffee?”

Harry shook his head. “I’ll be up in about twenty minutes to change so we can go out and get groceries and some things that I need. So you can put a pot on and I’ll grab it when I get in.”

Louis nodded. “Of course, I’m going to check on Harley, somehow she managed to get in my room this morning.” He retreated back to the house and found Harley laying in the bed he just made. “Go on girl your Daddy is waiting for you.” she wagged her tail before she ran off.

“That dog is surely something.” Harry chuckled as he saw Harley running towards him at high speed. He finished up his morning feeding and let the cows and horses out to graze while they went out to the town.

He went into the kitchen and found the pot of coffee already done but Louis nowhere to be found before he heard the shower running and he started to think dirty thoughts before he was broken out of his trance when he heard Louis enter the kitchen.

“Hope it was okay I just hopped in to freshen up,” Louis spoke, grabbing his own cup of coffee, smiling at Harry.

Harry nodded. “That’s fine, just don’t use too much, the water heater takes a couple hours to kick back in.”

“Good to know, so are you ready to go or did you want to change?”

“Oh right, yeah let me change really quick I don’t think people want the smell of cow manure to run through their noses.”

Louis just rolled his eyes. “I don’t mind the smell and people shouldn’t complain you supply stores with your products.” Harry having told Louis at dinner time that the grocery store they were headed too is his biggest buyer for milk and eggs, as they only get it from him.

Harry just chuckled as he went to his room to change quickly, placing his clothes to the side knowing he only needs to get dirty later when he went to muck out the stalls. He spritzed on some cologne, hoping it would mask out the smell, but in reality it doesn’t. He slips on his cleaner boots and joined Louis back in the kitchen who had found one of Harry’s many barn cats, this one was named Belle.

“I see you’ve found one of my cats.”

Louis looked up as he was still rubbing her tummy. “Yeah she came inside through the doggy door and immediately came to rub herself between my legs. Wait, did you say one? How many do you have?”

“I have five, which wasn’t my intention. I had adopted two, I was told they were fixed but Belle here was pregnant with a litter of kittens, she gave birth to three kittens. They all wander around but come back to get food and such, I keep them in here or the barn when it gets cold or it’s raining.”

“What are the other names?”

“The older all black male is Salem, the orange tabby is Ari, the all white is Snowy and the black and white is Socks.”

Louis smiled. “Well, I can’t wait to meet the rest of them.”

Harry nodded, grabbing the keys. “Let’s get going before we’ll be up until after dark working.” Harry led Louis out to an older pickup truck and drove them the longer distance to town, Louis looking out the window as the scenery passed by. Harry pulled into the grocery store and Louis stayed behind him as they walked inside.

Louis went his own way in the store, grabbing things that he knew he could make, knowing Harry needed to get some things for the farm. They met up in the meat department, where Louis was looking at the different packages of beef and chicken. “I grabbed fruit and vegetables along with lettuce, figured we can have sandwiches and salad for lunch.”

Louis nodded, just putting the things into the cart, not really uttering a word. Harry paid for the things he needed specifically for the farm and Louis paid for the food. And when they go home they went their separate ways. Louis needed to finish up some course work that was due that day and then he made lunch.

He poked his head out of the house and found Harley laying down in the grass. “Girl go get daddy and tell him it’s lunch time.” She immediately ran off to find Harry.

Louis made a simple salad with caesar salad dressing and some turkey sandwiches, putting it on a plate and waited for Harry to come in before he ate. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going good, finished up your work?”

Louis nodded. “Just needs editing but other than that it’s all done.”

“Good, maybe you can go on a ride by yourself when you’re done. Dillon has been looking for you, he’s like aching for you to ride him again. He’s never like that before, not even when I rode him in shows.”

“That’s means that he likes me better,” he teased, sticking his tongue out.

Harry just chuckled as he shook his head, eating the lunch and getting back out to work.

Louis changed into clothes to ride, leaving food for the cats before he went out to get Dillon ready, but this time he wanted to go bareback on the old horse. He grabbed the taller block to get on him and Dillon did the same thing he did last night where he reared a bit getting all excited as he charged off. He let out a loud laugh as he just let Dillon go, he didn’t even hold onto the reins, he held onto his mane and just let him go.

Harry had been weeding the garden when he heard the loud footsteps of a horse and he smiled when he heard Louis’ voice and his laughter. He knew the boy had a difficult last couple months and it was good to see him happy for once. He picked the right horse for Louis’ coping. He stopped and watched as Louis let go of the mane and just let Dillon do whatever he wanted, he was so carefree and Harry loved it about him. For only knowing him for a day he couldn’t help but think that maybe Louis was meant to come to him, to help him as well.

Once Louis left within earshot of Harry he went back to doing his duties, leaving a mental note that he was going to give Louis a list of things to do to help him out while he was stuck here.

Louis led Dillon to a watering hole and before he could react he walked into it and they were almost completely submerged. Louis then did something he’s always wanted to do, he stood on Dillon’s back and jumped off into the water. The old horse turned his head to watch, letting out a grunt of disapproval before he drank the water.

Louis just chuckled as he swam around, Dillon kicking out his leg trying to splash the boy, who laughed louder. “Having fun buddy?” Dillon let out a loud neigh as if he was saying yes. Louis watching as Dillon started to get out of the water and immediately shook out his withers. “Ready to go back?” Dillon must have understood as he somehow managed to bow down as if he was telling Louis to hop on, and he did. Dillon then waited for Louis to be situated on and grabbed a hold of his mane before he charged off as if they were going to a joust.

When Harry looked up again to hear Louis’ giggled, he couldn’t help but to crack a smile when he saw the two of them were soaking wet. Figures, he thought to himself, that old horse loved the water.

Louis put Dillon back into his paddock and he rubbed himself up against the boy as if he was saying thank you for letting him have some fun. Louis kissed the space between his eyes and scratched a bit behind his ears before he went into the house, not before he kicked off his wet boots outside the door, to take a quick shower.

When he got out of the shower, as he was opening the door he slammed into another body, sending them both to the floor in entangled limbs. Louis blushed when he saw Harry looking at him with wide eyes before he scrambled off of him and helping him off the floor.

Louis thought that his blush wouldn’t have gotten darker, but Harry’s eyes raked over his body and then he slapped his hand over his face making Louis finally realized that his towel dropped giving Harry a nice look at his whole body. “I-umm,” was all that he said before he ran into the room.

They didn’t speak of it, well they didn’t even speak during dinner either, save for Harry saying thank you and that the food tasted good. All Louis could do was nod his head, not trusting his voice as he was still quite embarrassed.

Louis definitely knew the next month would make him go stir crazy. And if Harry got off to the sight of his flaccid cock between his legs later that night, then he didn’t need to know.

 


	3. Day Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you're going to see me skip around because I feel like having 28-30 chapters of days is going to drag on unless I feel the need to have consecutive days then i will, but for now i will be jumping a couple days with the first bit be like a recap of what happened since then
> 
>  
> 
> p.s some sexual content...

 

 

The next couple of days were awkward to say the least, Louis barely spoke to Harry, let alone made eye contact with the cowboy. If Harry had it his way he’d force Louis to speak to him, but he didn’t want to scare the boy, so he just let him cope. Even if it meant hearing the loud galloping hoofs at all hours of the night, it was worth it.

Louis woke up at the crack of dawn, noticing that Harry wasn’t even up yet so he decided that he should start helping. He put a pot of coffee on and knew it would be done in time for Harry to wake up, then he went out and started to do the things that Harry had shown him in order, loving that he was actually doing something to help for a change.

Harry woke up to the smell of fresh coffee itching his nose, he stretched out his limbs and realized that he had overslept again. Maybe if he wasn’t up half the night waking up from very explicit dreams about his house guest he’d probably get some sleep, but he couldn’t help it. Picturing those lips against his, becoming reddened and slicked with his own saliva, then having those exact lips around his cock. He couldn’t help but snake his hand in between the covers, grasping his aching cock over his pajama pants and he let his fantasy play out in his head.

Picturing his head bobbing on his cock, Harry thumbed over the tip of his cock, precome instantly dribbling out. He used that little bit of cum to ease the friction as he stroke his cock, picturing the smaller hands wrapped around his girth as he could just picture what the boy would be saying to him. He wondered how much of a filthy mouth he could have, he wanted to know, but just picturing it would do for now.

Harry groaned, the feeling of his orgasm catching up to him, he needed more. He couldn’t help but to picture the boy bouncing on his cock, moaning out his name in a moan as he hit his prostate. And just as he pictured Louis coming from his cock in his imagination, he came into his hand, moaning out Louis’ name quite louder than he wanted to. He hoped Louis didn’t hear or that wouldn’t be a great thing.

He sighed, that was the fifth time he’s come from just picturing Louis, but that was the first he pictured him fucking up into the boy, and he wanted the real thing. He decided he should get up and rinse off in the shower real quick before he went to start working on installing the new flooring for the chicken coop that he’s been procrastinating on. He sighed, hoping into the shower, letting the hot water cascade down his back.

Louis had stepped into the house to grab some coffee when he heard odd noises coming from Harry’s room, he heard him, heard everything that came out of the room. He put a hand over his mouth when he heard his name being moaned out and he’d be lying if that didn’t make him instantly hard. Louis sighed, “Of course the one place I’m stuck in the cowboy is gay, just my luck,” he said sarcastically as he went into his own room to lay down and hope that his stiffy would go down with a little sleep. It was just about 8am and the milking and morning feeding was all finished, he even rode Dillon and Bo for a bit. Even though Harry did tell him to not right Bo, he didn’t listen and that horse trusted him because he knew what he was doing. And besides, it was like a ten minute gallop one way and back and that was it.

He managed to sleep until about ten-thirty, not hearing a slight knock on his door until he was fully awake and went to see what Harry wanted.

“I, um, wanted to thank you for doing all the morning things, I haven’t been sleeping really good.” Because you’ve been jerking off to the thought of me, Louis thought, but he couldn’t say that because that wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

He nodded, smiling. “I was awake and couldn’t sleep, plus gives you time to work on other things.”

Harry nodded. “Managed to fix the chicken coop, so thank you.”

“No problem, I’ve got a bit of work to do but I’ll come down with some lunch around one.”

Harry smiled. “I’ll be in the stable fixing up the stalls, Bo keeps kicking off his door and ending up in the same stall with Dillon.”

“Maybe open up the wall in between, maybe he wants to be around Dillon? Has he ever been aggressive towards him?”

Harry shook his head. “Not at all, I think he likes to protect him since of the big age gap.”

“Knock out the wall and let them share a stall and see where it goes, or even take off a part and put like a little window so he can poke his head in. Some horses get scared that they can’t see other horses around them, so maybe that could be it.”

Harry smiled. “I’ll go try that, thank you. You know I never got to ask you, but what are you even studying in college.”

Louis just smiled back, Harry probably knowing the answer. “Animal Behavior, specifically wanting to work with larger animals. Why do you ask?”

“Because the way you answered that question it was as if I was speaking to a professional. I’ll let you know what happens, thank you.”

Louis just blushed, but didn’t get a chance to reply before the cowboy left the house to do just what he suggested. It took them a three days to speak and it was about horses of all things. He sighed as he opened his laptop and started a literature search on some scientific journals to create a powerpoint based off his grant proposal for his masters thesis. He was looking into communication between humans and horses, whether or not horses can actually communicate with humans when it came to simple tasks. He needed to propose this before he actually was able to study this, at least Harry has a good fifteen horses and he could potentially use them if the university let him.

He managed to find a bunch of different articles before he went to make some lunch, deciding on some chicken salad sandwiches from the leftover grilled chicken he cooked the other night. He wrapped it up and poured some lemonade into a travel mug and went off to find Harry only to find him smiling at Bo who was happily sticking his head into Dillon’s stall. He didn’t make the hole big enough for him to squeeze in, but big enough for his head to poke through.

“See, that’s all it took,” Louis spoke making Harry jump a little bit, placing a hand over his heart from not knowing he was there. “Sorry,” he muttered quietly handing Harry over his lunch before he retreated back to the house without another word. He outlined his powerpoint and grant proposal before he called it a day. He looked at the clock and saw it was barely three, so he decided to take a nap and as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out.

He was woken up by someone shaking him violently, “Louis!”

He shot out of bed and hit his head against someone’s chin making them both curse out from the pain. “Huh, what happened?”

“I don’t know you were screaming for someone and then when I came in to check on you I saw you were kicking and gasping for air. What happened?”

Louis shuddered at the memory, something he’s never really forgotten. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Harry nodded, not wanting to push him. “I made dinner if you’re up to it. I made a stew with some grilled cheeses. I could bring it in here if you want?” he spoke calmly as he got off the bed and watched as Louis controlled his breathing.

“I’ll eat in the kitchen, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

“Promise, besides I don’t like eating in bed in case I spill something.” Louis followed Harry into the kitchen and sat at the same seat he’s been sitting in and smiled at the aroma that filled his nose when a bowl and small plate were placed in front of him. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Harry watched Louis from the corner of his eye as the boy just pushed the stew around as if he was trying to make it look like he was eating, but it didn’t fool him. “Louis?” Harry spoke but the boy didn’t budge, so he placed a hand on his arm and said his name again. The boy stiffened from Harry’s touch which made him move his hand away. “Louis, what’s wrong?”

Louis shook his head, sniffling, “Please, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“When you’re ready to speak I’m all ears, okay?”

Louis nodded, finishing his food and just as he was going to leave Harry stopped him and took him into his arms. “What are you doing?” He asked as his face was smushed into his chest, both of their heartbeats accelerated from the gesture, neither of them caring though.

“It looked like you needed a hug,” Harry replied as he held him.

It took all of his willpower to not start crying in his arms, he just moved his face and smushed his nose into his chest as he let Harry hold him. When Harry pulled away he smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

Harry kissed his forehead softly before he left him to clean the dishes and to hide the fact that he was blushing madly.

But if he turned around he would have seen that Louis had touched the spot on his forehead that was slightly tingling. He smiled before he retreated to the living room to watch a little television, Harry joining in a short time later sitting at the other end and placing Louis’ feet on his lap. They someone ended up cuddling on the couch, Louis with his face tucked into Harry’s neck as the cowboy had a tight hold around his waist.

From only knowing each other for five days, it was as if they’ve known each other their whole lives. Something was drawing them together and it may just win.

 


	4. Day Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i don't even know what this chapter is tbh haha, i wrote it when i was getting hit with a nor'easter so i automatically thought of a storm to happen here...so here you go.

 

 

The fifth day of Louis and Harry knowing each other kept replaying over in their head. Louis couldn’t get Harry’s kiss out of his mind, even though it was just a sweet gesture, he still can’t help but to smile every time he thought about it. The sixth day went by like a blur, Louis waking up earlier than Harry and doing the morning feeds, going back to his room before the cowboy woke up and falling back to sleep until about ten. He would do some homework, emailing his professors and advisor about what he was planning on doing to graduate. After that was done, it was lunch time and he would bring it down to Harry before leaving him alone to go ride Dillon for a bit.

Louis felt at home when he was pushed into a routine that he couldn’t help but to like. Harry on the other hand was really happy that he finally had someone to help him out around the farm, other than him being lonely most of the time, it was nice to be able to go to sleep at a reasonable hour and not hours after the sun set.

Harry had come in after lunch to get some water when he heard Louis rustling about in the living room watching some television show, then he heard it change to the news and a loud fuck could be heard from Louis. “What? What’s wrong?” Harry asked as he went into the living room to find Louis with his mouth agape as he was looking at the forecast.

“There’s a nor'easter coming our way with 80 mile an hour winds and bad lightning. Can the barn withstand that?”

Harry pondered for a second before his shoulders slumped. “I don’t even know to be honest, the last time we had a storm the barn was just built, that was a good couple years ago.”

“I mean, it should be fine. Did you watch them put in the foundation?”

Harry nodded. “A good few feet into the ground and I’ve been periodically fixing the roof. I fixed it the other day so it should be fine. What else are they saying about it?”

“Just to be careful when the storm comes because a lot of trees could come down along with power lines and such.”

“Thunder and lightning?”

Louis nodded and watched Harry let out a long sigh. “What’s wrong?”

“Bo is absolutely terrified of thunder, the last time we had a storm he kicked out his stall door and I could find him for days. Granted this land is all family owned but it stretches for miles and it was difficult trying to find him by yourself.”

“Maybe try to put him into the stall with Dillon? Maybe the old man can calm him down if he sees there is nothing to worry about.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea, when is this storm supposed to be coming?” Just as he spoke a loud crack of thunder was heard and that answered his question. “You need to help me round up the animals now!” Harry immediately started running, Harley running into the fields to get the cows and sheep to come in, the rain just starting at a drizzle.

Louis went into the horse barn and went to go grab Bo who decided to rear when Louis went to grab his halter since it decided to thunder again. “Woah, there buddy,” He raised a hand up and rubbed his nose. “We’re going to move you with your best friend, he’s going to make sure you’re safe.” He rubbed the spot behind his ears and he felt the horse relax under his touch. “Don’t worry we’re not going to let anything happen to you, okay?” He spoke calmly, the horse may not know what he’s saying, but with the calmness of his voice the horse will understand to stay calm as well. After a good couple of minutes of Bo trying to calm down Louis managed to get him into the stall with Dillon. Louis smiled when Dillon nuzzled his nose against the younger horse who was right up against him.

“You really do know what to do don’t you?” The voice startled Louis making him jump slightly. “Sorry.”

Louis shook his head. “It’s okay, but yes this is my whole major as I’ve been studying this long before I even decided what I wanted to do.”

“What is it that you want to do?”

“I want to help people with their animals that have behavioral issues and help with the pounds or rescues that have animals that were abused.”

“That sounds really cool.” Harry smiled as he watched his horses nuzzling against each other.

Louis nodded. “It’s my dream to help animals in need.”

“I hate to disrupt this but we better get inside before the rain starts to come down.” Harry sighed when he heard a louder crack of thunder and a loud whine coming from Bo, but Dillon was there to help him calm down. “And I think these two will be okay.”

“Put some hay in their stall just in case we get stuck in the house and can’t come back.” Harry nodded and put some extra bales in each of the stalls for the animals.

Louis was already running to the house as the rain started to come before Harry started to run to the house, they were basically drenched by the time they got inside of the house. “Ugh, I hate the feeling of wet clothes sticking to me.”

Harry just chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. “So, I would say you can shower but the water heater takes a bit to kick in during storms and we both need to shower.”

Louis instantly blushed. “Umm, maybe we can shower in our boxers?”

Harry’s dick perked up in interest before he nodded. “If you’re comfortable with that.”

“We’ll just have to be quick I don’t like showering in a thunderstorm.” Louis just went into the bathroom and got the shower on, slipping off his clothes and he got in. Harry joined him shortly after and they took turns washing their hair. Harry actually was able to keep himself composed throughout the whole time in the shower with a half naked man.

Louis on the other hand wasn’t doing so hot as he felt himself grow hard. Before Harry could see it he quickly left the shower leaving Harry quite confused. Harry finished getting the soap out of his hair and turned off the shower. He pulled off his boxers and he wrapped himself into a towel. He deposited the dirty clothes into the bin in the bathroom before he went into his room to change, and think about the grossest things ever to get his boner down.

Louis put on boxers before he curled himself underneath the covers with his back to the door, his dick hurt from the lack of attention, but he didn’t want to get off to the thought of Harry with him being in earshot. He managed to doze off for a while until his laptop made a loud ding signaling that he had an email from someone. He opened it up and read it.

_Hi Louis,_

_Thank you for giving me the updates with your capstone project and sorry to hear about your predicament. Would you be able to skype soon to discuss the questions that you have with the study? I want to go over the paperwork that you need to fill out if you want to use the horses on the farm. As well you will need to make sure you have the permission from him as well._

_Stay safe in the storm that is wreaking havoc right now!_

_Talk soon,_

_Dr. Zayn Malik, D.V.M_

Louis was quick to write a response from his phone since the WIFI decided to stop working.

_Dr. Malik,_

_Thank you for getting back to me so quickly, but the skype meeting will have to wait until the WIFI comes back on which will probably not be for a while. I will definitely talk to Harry about letting me use his animals for the study which I won’t see a problem since I won’t be hurting them._

_I will email you when my WIFI comes back on and I’m not wasting my data using my phone._

_And you stay safe as well!_

_Louis Tomlinson_

_University of New Hampshire_

_Graduate Student, Animal Behavior MS_

He waited until he heard his phone ping after the email was sent before he went back to take the nap that he didn’t realize he actually needed. It didn’t last long as he heard a loud crack and a loud bang coming from outside.

“Louis! Fuck the tree fell on the barn!” Harry screamed as he barged into the room not caring that they were both in their boxers. “Help me please!” He started crying as he left to get changed to get the horses out.

Louis was quick to change and he ran as fast as he could, the wet ground making him slide down the slight incline.

Harry was already moving things around to get the animals out, but he let out a loud sob when he found Bo kicking at a board that presumably had Dillon underneath it. “No, no!” he ran over to him and managed to move everything and Dillon was still breathing but he was definitely hurt.

“Louis call the vet, now!” Louis didn’t have time to think before he pulled out his phone and called the number that Harry gave him if something were to happen and Harry wasn’t there.

“Hello? This is David how may I help you?”

“Yes, I’m Louis and I’m at Harry Styles farm. A tree fell onto his barn and one of the horses is injured.”

Louis heard David rustling around through the phone. “Is he breathing? Any bleeding? Broken bones?”

Louis sighed. “He’s got a huge gash just by his flank, but nothing else seems to be a problem. He’s trying to get up and he’s breathing fine.”

“I actually cannot get up to you right now, but do you have experience with cleaning out wounds?”

“I actually interned with a vet for six years and I know how to suture as well. But, I don’t think Harry has anything to stitch him up.”

“Wait, would fishing line work?” Harry thought for a second remembering he’s got a whole load for the chicken coop.

Louis gave him the message and he heard David sigh. “Yes, you just have to disinfect it as you probably know how to do. Is there anything still in the gash?”

Harry was already covered in blood as he just pulled out some hay to get a better look and shook his head as he let out a relieved sigh.

“Just a bit of debri and that’s it.”

“Alright, so what I’m going to have you do is suture him up the best you can do and clean it up. I’ll be by in the morning to get a better look. Let me know if he gets a fever or anything.”

“Of course, thank you so much.”

“I’ll see you in the morning, stay safe!” He spoke before he hung up the phone. Louis then sprung into action as he grabbed all the things he needed.

“This is going to hurt, but you don’t have an antiseptic so you’re going to have to hold him down.”

“I don’t think I’ll have to, Bo has been keeping him occupied.”

Louis cooed as he watched the two of them and then started with suturing the wound, something he’s down many more times, more of the other times were much worse. He sutured it up the best he could and then gave him a nice big bandage. “Harry, they can’t stay in here, where can we put them?”

Harry sighed. “There’s the other barn that is down a bit, would that work?”

“Yes, just Dillon cannot get his bandage wet, do you got plastic wrap?”

“In the cabinet, I keep it in here for times like this.” Louis was quick to wrap him up and then they stood up and helped him get up. Louis walked slowly with Dillon, luckily they didn’t have to walk down a hill to get to the barn. Louis took off the plastic wrap and checked on the bleeding, and it wasn’t bleeding much but he’d have to check out in a couple hours. They made sure they were safe before they ventured back up to the house, they going into their rooms to get into warm clothes. Harry slipping into the bathroom to clean off the blood that he got him, sniffling as he couldn’t get that scene out of his mind, he knew Dillon wouldn’t live forever but he doesn’t want to lose him just yet.

Louis put on the kettle for tea before turning on the gas stove to make some soup.

Harry came in and he took Louis into his arms. “I thank you so much for being here. I can’t lose him, he’s my best friend.” He sniffled into his neck as Louis took him into his arms.

Louis smiled and he held him as he cried quietly. When Harry moved his head, call it cliche, but when they finally locked eyes it was as if nothing else mattered. Just as they were leaning in to kiss the ding from the teapot made them jump away.

Harry turned it off and get them cups for the tea. Louis put the soup in the bowl after it was done and they ate quietly in the kitchen.

Just as Harry was cleaning the dishes the power went out. “Just great.” He found a flashlight and he used it to make sure he wouldn’t trip over Harley who is always by his feet.

“How long do you think the power would be out?” Louis asked, checking his phone that had no signal.

“Depends, the last time we lost power was when I was younger and it was out for a few days.”

Louis nodded. “Don’t have a generator?”

Harry shook his head. “Never feel the need to have it, I’ve got a radio we can listen to the news on there to keep updated.”

“Yeah, and I need to go back out to check on Dillon in a few hours to make sure everything is okay.”

Harry sighed, leaving the dishes in the sink for later, turning around and lighting some candles. “What do you want to do until then?”

Louis shrugged. “Got a deck of cards?” Harry smiled, nodding and then disappeared to go get them. They played a few rounds of 500 Rummy, crazy eights and even go fish until Louis needed to go check on Dillon. Harry found a few raincoats and rain boots to go out into the storm, they noticed that the barn was completely totalled and Harry would definitely have to put a huge dent into his savings to cover for a new barn.

When they got to the stall, Dillon was lying down calmly. Harry had a stethoscope and a thermometer on hand so Louis made sure to do everything that the veterinarian told him to do. Louis looked over to Harry, “Has he always had a slow heartbeat?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, the vet said it was normal for him to be 28-32 range.”

Louis nodded. “He’s at a 29 as of right now and it’s probably because he’s at rest. Could you see how he’s breathing out of his nostrils? Count for one minute.” Harry did just that and told Louis he got 18 breaths, making him smile that it was normal. “How are his gums? Pink and wet? Press on them and see if the color comes back in less than two seconds.”

Harry curled his lip and did all what he asked. “He’s normal for everything. Why are we doing this?”

“Just to make sure he’s not bleeding anywhere in his body, that’s all.” Louis pulled out the thermometer and looked at it over a lamp and sighed in relief. “99.5, that’s great no fever for the old man.” He heard Harry let out a sigh as well, and then he went to look at the bandage and the bleeding was minimal.

“So he’s okay?”

“Yes, Harry he’ll be okay.”

Louis and Harry went back to the house after they checked on Bo knowing he was scared of the storm and of his best friend. They changed into another pair of warm clothes, it was quite cold in the house and Harry lit the wood in the fireplace in the living room. “I say we stay in here tonight, sound good?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah, I don’t like being cold when I sleep.” He watched Harry make a makeshift bed on the floor for the two of them.

They got comfortable before they both said goodnight to each other, they falling asleep to the awkward silence that had fell upon the two of them. And if they woke up closer to each other in the morning, then it was meant to be.

 


	5. Day Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is a bit short but nothing really sparked up in my mind to make it longer, i promise the next chapter will be a bit longer!

 

 

Louis snuck out of the house around two am to go check up on Dillon as well as the other animals. Dillon was still doing great, but his temperature went up to 100 degrees, which was still normal for a horse. Louis didn’t think of it as being a bad thing, so he would just mention that to the vet in the morning. He wasn’t very concerned. He checked the bleeding and changed the bandage, Dillon nuzzling his nose into Louis side when he was finished.

“You’re very welcome bud,” Louis smiled and kissed his nose as he scratched at his neck. Louis was so distracted that he didn’t hear Harry come in.

“How’s he doing?” Harry spoke, making Louis jump again.

“Don’t do that, going to give me a heart attack.”

“Sorry, again.”

“Just stop doing that. And to answer your question he’s doing great, his temp went up a half a degree which I’m not too worried about, but that’s really it. Changed his bandage and was just about to leave when you came in, what are you doing up?”

“I heard you get up and wanted to make sure everything was okay before I fell back to sleep.”

Louis let out a loud yawn before replying, “I could sleep for a long time.”

Harry let out a chuckle, nodding in agreement. “Let’s get back in then and sleep until we have to feed in the morning.”

Louis gave Dillon another scratch behind his ear and then doing the same for Bo before they slowly retreated back to the house. As soon as their heads hit the pillow they were fast asleep.

They woke up hours later, the wind still really bad but the rain had stopped, and Harry dealt with the morning feeding and milking of the cows, sheep and all the other animals, while Louis tended to the horses. He picked out their hooves from dubri that they had gotten from the storm and made sure all the horses didn’t have any scrapes or anything on them that was visible. He palpated areas that would be the most common area of injury and all the horses were fine, well save for Dillon who took a turn for the worse.

“Fuck Harry, call the vet now!”

Harry heard him quite clearly being up the hill and he was quick to run to where Louis was. “What’s wrong?”

“I think his wound is infected and he’s running a temperature. Everything is fine, but his temperature has gone to 102 and I’m sure it’s only going to get higher.”

Harry frowned and with shaky hands he grabbed Louis’ phone and managed to call the vet, the phone going in and out and all Harry could get out was that he was on his way.

Louis pulled back the bandage and frowned, the wound looked red and puffy. “I’m pretty sure the vet is going to have to reopen it and suture it better.”

Harry started to sniffle at the thought of his best friend getting worse. “Harry, he’ll be okay, all he’ll need is a better cleaning of the wound and better suture with the proper material. His temperature isn’t the high to be very worried, but to still be cautious. He’s still eating and drinking which is really good, he’s just a bit under the weather. He’s a fighter, he’s still kicking.”

Harry nodded. “I know, I just don’t like to see him in pain.”

“Understandable, but imagine if I wasn’t here then who knows what would have happened. You know?”

“Thank you, I’m so grateful for you right now.”

Louis smiled and a few minutes later the vet came in, he was in street clothes and he was carrying a huge load of stuff with him. “The old man having some troubles?” He asked getting a nod from them all. “I take it you took his vitals? The only thing that is a bit odd was his temperature?”

“Yeah, and when I pulled off his bandage it was red and puffy, it could be slightly infected.”

David nodded as he went over to the animal and inspected it. “That’s what it looks like, let me numb him up and clean him out a bit more and then suture him a bit better. I’ll put him on some antibiotics and then I’ll come to check on him in a few days, but you know that if anything changes to call.”

“Of course,” Louis answered for Harry as they watched David do what he told them, frowning when it was as he suspected since there was panic the wound wasn’t cleaned to the best it could have and he cleaned it a lot better. He put in smaller stitches and then bandaged him up again, giving Dillon a nice rub on his neck.

“I’ll give you the prescription for the antibiotic that he will need to have injected everyday in the morning and at night. It shouldn’t give him any severe reactions, but just to be safe I’ll inject him while I’m here and we’ll watch him for an hour. Is that okay with you?”

Harry nodded. “Yes, of course do what you need to do.”

David let out a sigh in relief when he didn’t have an immediate reactions to the medication and he was on his way to see other patients that weren’t as lucky as Harry and Louis were from the storm.

Harry went over to Dillon who had laid down from the medication and he rubbed his neck. “Don’t worry buddy everything will be okay, don’t you worry.” He kissed the spot in between his ears and left to go finish with feeding the animals, leaving Louis to watch the two horses for a bit.

“Come on buddy the faster you get better the faster we can have fun on the farm.” Louis smiled when he watched Dillon’s ears twitch towards him and he was looking at him. Louis gave him a kiss and then he left to go make breakfast for him and Harry.

When Louis came back from the house he found Harry looking at the barn that was destroyed. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to afford a new one, I barely can make ends meet monthly.”

“Well, the barn they are in right now is fine, it’s spacious. Yes, it’s a bit farther from the house, but for now it would have to do. Until then we can figure out how much a new barn will be and what we can do to help get the money.” He handed Harry a breakfast sandwich and coffee and they sat on the mangled barn wood as they ate.

“It’s just going to be difficult because I can’t spend the time out of my day to build it so it will be more money for someone else to build it for me.”

Louis nodded. “Maybe we could do like visiting days? Like open up your farm for a couple hours a day for a fee and they can see what a day on the farm is like.”

Harry smiled. “And we can use some of the horses for some trail riding.”

“That’s not a bad idea actually, maybe we can figure out everything and then see if we can get help from the town as well.”

Harry nodded. “That really isn’t such a bad idea. If only Dillon wasn’t injured he loves trail rides.”

“We could wait until he gets better until we do it?”

Harry frowned. “But, you’re going to leave before he gets better.” And he left Louis alone as he went to collect the eggs from the chickens.

Louis sighed as he just walked back to the house to do some homework and to schedule a skype meeting with his advisor. But, all he could think about was how much he felt drawn to Harry after such a short time and he didn’t want to leave him.

Harry doesn’t speak to Louis for the rest of the day, not even at dinner, even though Louis made it for them. Louis just placed the food on the table in front of him and left him to go into his room to eat. He didn’t want to leave Harry alone but the awkward silence was killing him and not to mention the urge to make a move on him was growing higher.

He didn’t know how much longer he could take it before he would act upon his urges.

 


	6. Day Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this seems rushed, I've been having a terrible last couple weeks, but, I had most of this written and I needed to finish it and I don't know why I didn't wait. I do hope you guys like it. 
> 
> this is not edited, i'll come back to it when i'm feeling more in a writing mood.

Louis was miserable, the tension was awkward and he didn’t know how to even react to what was going on. He wanted to talk to Harry, but he wouldn’t talk to him, even though they basically lived together. Harry wouldn’t say anything when Louis would do all the morning things and basically feed him all the time, he just stood silent. It was making Louis really anxious.

On the other hand, Harry didn’t know why he was ignoring Louis. He knew it was affecting Louis  and that it wasn’t the right thing to do.. He just already grew so fond of the boy in such a short time and he didn’t want him to leave. He knew it was so sudden to feel the pull, but he couldn’t help but to be drawn to the boy. 

Harry sighed when he cleaned out Dillon’s wound like how the doctor said to while Louis was in the house skyping his advisor for school. Dillon’s stitches were healing up nicely and nothing was out of the ordinary, even though it’s only been a couple days but it was looking a lot better. 

“My buddy, I love you so, so much.” He kissed Dillon on his nose, which made the horse nuzzle his cheek as if he was trying to kiss him. Harry chuckled and scratched Dillon on his neck before going into his pocket to give him a few sugar cubes. He left him be as he mucked out the stalls and picked the manure out of the paddocks. He wheeled the poop into the compost pile to get ready for the next crop to be planted and then went inside to shower since he was done for the day. 

He was going to knock on Louis’ door to ask him if he wanted take out for dinner but stopped when he heard sniffles. 

“I don’t know what do mum. Part of me wants to stay and help Harry but the other part of me thinks it’s not the greatest idea.”

“Well, maybe write the pros and cons of each thing to see where the most weight lies. Then you can figure out what you want to do.” Louis heard his mother speak through the phone. He wiped the snot dripping from his nose and he continued to sniffle.

“It’s not that simple mum, I don’t want to come off as one of those moochers.”

“Honey, you aren’t that type of person, you’ve been helping the poor boy.” 

“I know mummy, it’s just I’ve only been here a little over a week and I’m already falling for him. I don’t know what to do.” Louis sighed into the phone, wiping away his tears. “He hasn’t even spoken to me that last couple of days because I mentioned to wait until Dillon would be healed to do the fundraiser and he got offended because I wouldn’t be here for that long. But, at this point I really don’t want to leave. I feel like this may be my new home.” 

“Just think it over and know that whatever you decide I’ll support it, okay sweetie?”

“Yes mummy, I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you.” 

“Love you too.” Louis hung up shortly after and was startled by a knock on the door. 

“Come in,” he spoke quickly as he wiped his eyes again. 

“I heard crying are you okay?” Harry asked, frowning a bit.

Louis nodded. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

Harry just nodded. “I was thinking of ordering out, anything in particular you want?” 

“Umm, what’s good around here?” 

“Italian or chinese.” 

“Could we get chinese? I want general tso’s chicken with some crab rangoons.” 

Harry nodded with a smile. “It’s a good thing you said that because that’s what I was going to order. I’ll come get you when the food is here, okay?”

Louis nodded. “Of course, thank you.”

“No problem.”

Louis managed to doze off in the time Harry left and was startled awake when he heard someone come into the bedroom. 

“Ohh, oops I didn't mean to wake you.”

Louis shook his head and stretched his arms above his head, groaning when he felt his joints pop. “It's okay, I didn't plan on falling asleep.”

Harry nodded. “Foods here and I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie while we eat?”

“Of course pick the movie I'll be right out.” Louis went into the bathroom and relieved himself. He washed his face before he went and joined Harry on the couch. “So, what are we watching?”

“I put in the new Captain America movie, if that’s okay?”

“That’s fine, but I haven’t seen the first one yet.”

“What do you mean you haven’t seen it yet?”

Louis just shrugged, “I’ve never really had the time to watch a lot of things because of school. And then when I’m home I usually help my mum watch my siblings.”

Harry nodded. “Then I guess we’ll just have to watch the first film of the avengers movie collection. There is a specific order of what movies you need to watch to make sure you follow it.”

“So what is the order?

“I’m not sure entirely, but I do know that Iron Man was the first one to be released.”

“But I’ve seen Iron Man, all of them.”

“Then we’ve got to watch Thor, up for that?”

Louis just shrugged and took a rangoon from the bag and took a bite before he replied. “Sounds good.” He grabbed his own container of food and a pair of chopsticks, he sat back in the couch and got comfortable before he started eating his food. “Ooh, this is the best chinese food I’ve had.”

Harry nodded. “I’ve eaten at many different chinese places, but this place is the most authentic and not so americanized.”

Louis just made a face but didn’t reply as he continued to eat the delicious food in front of him. He wasn’t really paying attention to the movie, but he did, however watch enough to know that Thor was a demigod that had this giant hammer that only he can use and that his brother is evil. He got up and put his food in the fridge when he was finished and got back to the movie just about finishing up. 

“So what did you think?”

Louis shrugged. “It was okay, I’m more of a Iron Man person to be honest, but he’s quite cute.”

“Cute? I honestly think he’s quite sexy, those arms are like the size of my head!”

Louis couldn’t help but to start laughing at the remark. “Okay, I agree, he is totally sexy. But not as se--” He thankfully stopped himself from continuing on with that sentence and went quiet.

“What?” Harry raised an eyebrow in confusion at Louis.

“Nothing, it was nothing.” 

Harry wanted him to continue his sentence, wanting to know who he was going to say, but he didn’t pressure him.

Silence fell between the two, awkward silence, so awkward it was uncomfortable. 

“Umm, I’m going to go check up on Dillon before I head to bed,” Louis spoke quickly and didn’t let Harry say anything before he was already out the door.

Harry just stared at the screen door just as it clicked shut trying to figure out if he should follow him, he decided to let him be and cleaned up before he retreated to his room. 

Louis walked to the barn where the horses were and went over to find Dillon’s head deep in the hay. He chuckled, making Dillon pop his head up and watched him for a few minutes as if he was trying to decide if he wanted to go towards him or not. Dillon walked over to Louis and nuzzled his head against Louis’ side. 

“Hey buddy, how are you feeling?” Louis smiled and scratched his favorite spot. As Louis was talking to Dillon, Bo made a blood curtling whinny from his stall making Louis and Dillon jump. Louis immediately walked over to Bo who was stuck on his back, it seemed that the horse laid down in the wrong place and now he can’t get back up onto his feet. 

“Hey, hey Bo, bud can you calm down for me?” Louis rubbed his nose as the horse was breathing quite fast as he couldn’t get up. Dillon poked his head over the stall door and he whinnied to him, making Bo look up to him and he called back to him. They did that for a few minutes until Bo calmed down. Louis sighed, unlocked the stall and he motioned for Dillon to help him. He knew that since Dillon loved to chew on things, that he would be perfect to help him pull on Bo.

Louis led him to the part of the halter he wanted him to pull on and it was as if Dillon understood as he immediately started to back up slowly, pulling Bo with him. He didn’t have to go very far and he let go before Bo started to roll himself back up to his feet. Louis checked him over making sure he was alright before he left him and got Dillon back in his stall before he went back to the house, only to see Harry waiting for him with a cup of hot tea.

“Who made that loud noise? I heard it all the way up here.”

“Ohh, it was Bo. That idiotic horse got himself stuck and couldn’t get up off the floor since he decided to lay down in the corner of the stall awkwardly.”

Harry shook his head. “He does that more often than you think.” 

Louis chuckled, accepting the tea from Harry. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, thanks for checking in on them.”

“No worries.” He took a sip of tea and smiled. “You know, it’s supposed to be nice out the next couple of nights, we should do like some like camping stuff. Only if you want.”

Harry eye’s lit up. “I would love that.”

 

 

 

 

 


	7. Day Eleven

 

 

It was settled, they were going camping. Well, if camping meant them trekking on Harry’s property until they were far away from the farm. While they were doing this, Harry would still go do the morning chores, but that was it. Everything else that needed to be done, like repairs, were going to be held off as this was his little mini vacation...well sort of.    


Louis was so nervous, he only had been camping once, and he ended up hating it when he found out he was highly allergic to mosquitoes, cutting the trip short. He spent a couple hours in the emergency room until his fever came down. He’s hoping that this time there isn’t going to be an issue. 

He sighed as he went over the list in his head for what he needed, especially the only bug spray that ever worked on him, before he zipped up his bag and joined Harry in the living room. “Ready?”

Harry nodded. “I have the tent, the grill, the cooler and there is firewood outside that we can use.” He listed off a few other things and all Louis could do was zero in on his mouth as he spoke. 

He was broken out of his trance by Harry snapping his fingers in his face. “Sorry.” he didn’t say anything to why he zoned out and Harry didn’t ask. They grabbed everything and put in the wagon to bring it down to where they were going to be. 

They made sure all the animals had enough food and water until the morning and made their way to where Harry said would be the perfect spot to stargaze. Louis just followed behind him quietly. 

Harry stopped suddenly and started to unload the stuff, putting up the tent while Louis stood there waiting to see if he needed help. After a few minutes he decided to just put the firewood down in a pile for later when they needed the warm as they star gazed and shared stories or whatever people do when they go camping. 

“Umm, so the tent is a bit small, so it looks like we will be quite close,” Harry rubbed the back of his neck when Louis looked at the tent and just shrugged.

“It’s okay.” Louis put his things in the tent and took out his sleeping bag and pillow, grabbing the right side of the tent. 

“Are you okay?” Harry asked as he saw Louis was quiet, too quiet.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just tired.” And that conversation ended just as it started. 

“Okay. So I have steak, fish and chicken in the cooler. What do you want for tonight?”

“Fish? What kind of fish?”

“Alaskan Cod.”

“Sure, that sounds good. I’ll get the potatoes out to get them cooking first.” Louis went into the food bag and grabbed the already seasoned potatoes that were cut into small pieces so they will cook. He waited for Harry to tell him that the grill was hot enough before he took out the cast iron skillet to start to cook them. 

Harry waited about 15 minutes before he put the fish down, they had been marinating in some concoction that he did before they left and he hoped that it would taste good. 

Louis took the potatoes off and let them cool a bit before he plated them, along with a small salad before Harry put the fish down. He handed Harry a drink too before he took a seat on one of the chairs. “This is actually really good.”

“Good, I’m glad.” 

 

**

 

Later when the stars came out, Harry started the fire, and they were currently sitting around the fire making smores. “Nothing beats s’mores by the fire.”

Louis nodded as he was trying to eat the dessert but the marshmallow was going all over the place. “This is so messy, but so worth it.” Harry chuckled and just nodded in agreement. 

Louis let out a yawn after they finished their s’mores. “I hate to cut the first night short, but i’m beat. Maybe tomorrow we can tell scary stories or something?” 

Harry smiled. “I’d like that. I’ll join you in a bit, I’m going to put the fire out and make sure it completely dies off so we don’t start a wildfire on my property.”

“Good plan, I’ll probably be asleep by the time you come in, so just a warning.”

“Alright, goodnight Lou.”

“Night Harry.” Louis got up and threw his trash out in the bin before going into the tent. He pulled off his pants and t-shirt before he slipped into the sleeping bag. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light. 

Harry didn’t join him for another hour as the fire was having trouble going out and he had to run to get some dirt to put it out. He let out a yawn as he entered the tent and his mouth watered when he saw Louis clad in just boxers. It looked like the man had gotten warm and moved out of the sleeping bag. 

All Harry could think about was how much he wanted to fuck his thighs, but he knew he couldn’t. He wanted to keep his cool just like Louis. But it was so difficult. He could already feel himself go hard. 

He got onto the air mattress and unzipped his sleeping bag, but he was dripping sweat and he decided to do the same like Louis. He turned to look at Louis and watched him sleeping from the small lamp in their tent. He watched him a little bit longer before he put the lamp out. 

He heard some mumbling coming from Louis and his heart started to beat faster. He furrowed his eyebrows when he saw Louis fidgeting in his sleep as if he was having a nightmare. Harry watched him for a few minutes, hoping that Louis would calm down, but he got progressively worse. Harry didn’t know what to do, so he pulled Louis into his chest and he immediately calmed down. Harry couldn’t lie to himself when he realized that this felt normal to him, he really wanted Louis to stay. He just didn’t know how to get it to that point.

He sighed and ran his fingers through Louis’ hair until the man calmed down. When he tried to move away from Louis, he let out a whine and pushed back into his chest. 

Harry’s heart was beating so fast it could beat right out of his chest. He leaned back and before he knew it he was fast asleep with his arms wrapped around Louis. 

Louis had woken up sometime during the night when he had to pee and he jumped when he felt a breath on the back of his neck. He turned around and saw that it was Harry, wrapped around him. He sighed as he got up slowly to go to pee. He grabbed the lamp so he wouldn’t step on something and get hurt.

As he walked a bit away from the tent, he wondered how that could have happened and all he could think about was that it was an accident or that he had a nightmare. He quickly relieved himself, using the hand sanitizer he grabbed to sanitize his hands before he went back to the tent. 

He got back on the mattress and he accidentally woke up Harry. 

“Hmm, what?” He mumbled as he opened his eyes looking at Louis. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay. You good?”

Louis nodded, letting out a yawn. “Yeah, just needed to pee.” 

Harry patted the space next to him and smiled when Louis laid down facing him. The lamp was still on so Harry was able to admire the features that Louis was able to show. For some reason under this lighting they looked so much more beautiful. 

“Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?” Harry spoke, a slight huskiness still evident in his voice, with a smile.

Louis’ face heated up instantly. “Not really. My ex would only say I had a great body.”

Harry frowned. “Well, you do have a nice body, but that’s not why you’re beautiful.”

“I’ve only been called beautiful when it’s regarding how I look. No one ever has told me I was beautiful any other day.”

“Can I tell you why I think you’re beautiful?”

Louis nodded. “Okay.”

“You’ve got such a beautiful smile, laugh and the way your eyes crinkle when you genuinely smile. You’ve got such a big heart for everyone, especially animals, and you always put yourself last. I honestly could go on and on, but being beautiful isn’t just about having a great body, it’s much more than that.” 

Louis’ face was so red it reached to the tips of his ears and neck. He was a bit embarrassed and he hid his face in his pillow. 

“No, don’t hide.” 

Louis moved and saw that Harry was a bit closer to him. “Thank you for that. No one has ever told me any of that.”

“Well, when you’re with me, anything is possible.” 

Louis rolled his eyes and let out a chuckle. 

Harry moved the hair that fell in front of Louis face and call it cliche, but it was like time around them froze. They both moved closer and closer until their lips touched briefly before Louis moved away. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” 


	8. Day Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> please let me know what you think of the story so far! 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> not edited

 

 

Louis ran away from the tent and went to the one place where no one would judge him. He found Bo and Dillon eating their hay when he sat down in their stall with tears streaming down his face. He curled himself up into a ball and put his head into his knees.

Dillon was the one to nudge him first before Bo came over to him and did the same.

Louis then started talking. “I don’t know what to do boys, I don’t want to get attached but I think I already am. I don’t even know if Harry wants me to stay. I want to stay because he needs the help. But, is it because I can’t stand to lose him either?” 

Dillon laid onto the ground and laid his head in his lap and looked at him as if he was telling him to continue. 

“Harry is actually one of the greatest guys I’ve ever had to pleasure to get to know. He doesn’t push my limits and let’s me control my life. He doesn’t ask for more than what I can do and I appreciate it so much. Every other guy that I have been with have pushed me so far into my depression that it ended up with me in the hospital because I broke and tried to end my life. I don’t want to end up there again, I can’t go back.” He paused as he wiped his tears and Bo nudged him with his head again, making Louis chuckle. “I don’t want to be anywhere Harry isn’t. It’s probably too soon but I really think I’ve fallen in love with him.” 

Harry didn’t run after him, he knew he needed his space, but he knew where he’d end up. He waited for a bit before he went to go find him. He cooed at the sight he found. When he entered the barn he found Louis laying against Bo with Dillon’s head in his lap. He didn’t want to move him, but the horses can’t stay like that for too long or they could hurt themselves. 

Harry brushed the hair out of Louis’ face and he stirred a bit, opening up his eyes and looking at Harry with glassy eyes. “Don’t worry we don’t have to talk about what happened unless you want to. But, for now let’s get back to the tent.” Harry lifted Louis off of Bo and the smaller man stayed quiet as he got a good hold of him. Harry carefully carried him back to the tent and placed in on the mattress on the side he was laying on. 

Harry got in next to him and he stared up at the top of the tent until he felt a body come closer to him. 

“I’m sorry,” Louis whispered.

Harry shook his head at him and grabbed his hand. He squeezed it comfortingly before he brought it to his mouth and kissed his knuckles. “You don’t need to apologize Lou. When you’re ready, I’ll be here. If you don’t want to leave, you don’t have to.” 

Louis’ heart was beating quiet fast. “But, that’s the thing, I don’t know what I want to do.”

“Can you see yourself leaving?”

Louis thought for a second and shook his head. “I can’t leave.”

“And why can’t you?”

“The connections I’ve made with all your animals. There’s a connection to my roots when I’m here and I know it will only hurt if I leave. And I feel drawn to you, it’s almost as if it’s fate. I can’t leave, but at the same time, I don’t know if I should stay.”

“I don’t want to watch you leave. You’ve fit in so perfectly.” 

Louis didn’t say anything further as he buried his face into Harry’s chest, kissing it lightly. “Just like I fit perfectly in your arms.”

Harry couldn’t help but to chuckle and he pulled Louis closer to him, wrapping his arms around him and kissing the top of his head.

“I’ll wait for you, I’m not about forcing you into anything. I’ll move as fast or as slow as you want.”

Louis nodded. “Thank you, so much for everything.” Louis managed to fall back to sleep to the pitter patter of Harry’s heartbeat. 

  
  


**

 

Louis whined when Harry needed to get up to do morning feedings and milkings. “Don’t leave.”

Harry chuckled. “Babe, I’ll be back before you know it. Or you could help me too.”

Louis’ heart stopped when he heard Harry call him ‘babe’ and he didn’t know how to respond.

“Ohh, umm, I’m sorry that slipped out.” 

“It’s okay.” He hated to admit it that he loved the nickname, but it was too early for him to get all sappy. 

“I’ll go do feedings, you can do the milkings?” 

Harry nodded. “Sounds good.” 

They both got dressed, much to their dismay, and they walked hand in hand up the hill before they went their separate ways.

Louis started with feeding the chickens and the sheep, as Harry started milking the goats, he knew they would only get fussy if he brought them food and they can’t eat. By the time he got to the goats, Harry was finishing the last one and they were set free. Louis fed them and then went onto the pigs, while Harry went to milk the two cows that he had.

Louis ended with feeding the horses and that’s when Harry was finished. “Harry, could you reach the hay bales.”

“If you stay I need to think of somewhere else to store them, or get you a step ladder.”

“A step ladder would be great. I hate having such short arms.”

Harry nodded. “Then a step ladder I will get. Then now I can stack more up here too.”

Louis just shook his head and helped Harry give out the allotted amount of hay to each of the four horses, and he may have snuck an extra bit to both Dillon and Bo. Harry definitely didn’t see (he totally did) and he didn’t care. 

Once they were done, they both decided to go back to the tent to get a couple more hours of sleep. Louis fell onto the mattress and Harry crawled over to him and hovered over him. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Ohh nothing...just-” He cut himself off as he immediately started to tickle Louis until the man beneath him was crying from the laughter. 

“I hate you.” Harry just smiled and knew it was a lie. 

He helped Louis out of his pants and boots before he got out of his own. This time they left their shirts on as it got a little chilly. He grabbed one of the blankets and covered both of them up. 

Harry laid down and waited for Louis to get comfortable, which was lying on his chest and falling asleep as he did that. Harry watched him a bit longer before he too fell back to sleep.

 

**

 

“Lou, time to wake up, it’s past noon.”

Louis just groaned as he curled more into Harry’s embrace. “Don’t wanna move.”

“Pity and I was going to suggest we got swimming with the horses.” 

Louis opened his eyes and looked up at Harry. “I love swimming with the horses. But, Dillon can’t get his wound wet.” Louis frowned, remembering how the vet said it would take until at least the end of the month for it to heal. The only time the wound can get wet is when they are cleaning it out.

“Maybe we could cover it in plastic wrap?” 

“Never works.” 

“Well, we can bring Bo and then my baby Bea.”

“Is she the three year old you told me about?”

“Yeah, she’s got a lot of spunk, but I’m sure if you can handle Bo you can handle her.”

“Sounds good and then when we get back we can clean out Dillon’s wound.” Harry nodded and kissed Louis’ forehead before he got up to change into swim trunks, which was just him putting them over his boxers. Louis pouted internally, but knew it was too soon. 

He got up off the mattress and did the same, helping Harry fetch the horses, feeling bad when Dillon got excited only to find out that he wasn’t being taken. Until Louis grabbed him, saying that he could at least get his feet wet.

They walked down to the water hole careful of the horses not stepping on their feet. As soon as Harry got into the water, he immediately hopped onto Bea and then stood on top of her back and jumped off of her. Louis watched Harry do all these really cool tricks off the horses.

He let Dillon in the water for a bit until he tied him to the tree so he wouldn’t follow him. 

He struggled getting on top of Bo, before he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist, lifting him up. He giggled when he managed to stand on top of him and he managed to do a flip into the water. He came up and ran his fingers through his hair to get it out of his face. 

They did that for quite sometime before they were all pruney and the horses were hungry. 

Louis led Bea out of the water as Harry was already sitting on him. He got on top of Bea after he untied Dillon. “Race you to the barn! Last one there has to make lunch!” 

Louis didn’t even give Harry the time to react before he was already galloping on Bea up the hill and her being wet was making it hard for him to maintain his balance so he gripped his knees harder than what he’s used to. Bea didn’t care as it only made her go faster. Louis faintly heard Bo in the background, but he was already so far ahead he made it back to the barn before Harry. 

Harry chuckled as he watched Louis beat him to the barn, even though he let him win, but he wouldn’t tell Louis that. He helped give the horses their hay and midday grain and even cleaned Dillon’s wound before they went back to their tent.

“Can we do something simple for lunch? Like sandwiches? I packed some leftover chicken, so I do some chicken salad?”

Louis nodded. “Sounds good.” He disappeared into the tent and he got out of his wet clothes as Harry fixed up the sandwiches before he could do the same. 

Harry found more firewood as well, getting it ready to light for when it starts to get dark. Once Louis came out, he handed him a sandwich and then went to get changed. Harry sat down in a chair as soon as he came out and then to his surprise Louis came over and sat in his lap after they were done eating lunch. 

Harry put his arms around him and sighed. “You good?”

Louis nodded against his chest. “Yes, thank you for everything.”

“It’s no problem.”

Louis ended up drifting off in his arms until Harry woke him up when it got dark as he wanted to light the fire before it got too dark. Louis protested but then his stomach started growling and he decided to make dinner. He grabbed the steak and put it on the grill before he prepared for some steak tacos. 

He platted two tacos each with some yellow rice that he reheated over the fire and he sat next to Harry eating quietly. 

They ended their night stargazing, telling random stories of their childhood and it was one of the best nights of both of their lives.    
  



	9. Day Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here's a little something, I hope you guys like it!
> 
> sorry to keep you waiting, college has overtaken my life

The next couple of days were different, not weird, just _different._ It was a good different though. Louis was happier as can be and he was just excited to let Harry know the good news that he received from his advisor. He had gotten a hold his advisor earlier in the week about if he could finish his masters on the farm and email him everything when it was due. He would of course need to come back for the Graduate Research Conference in May right before his graduation.

Well, he was approved of doing an on site research study and he couldn't wait to tell Harry. But, when he went to find him he was sobbing over the body of Dillon. It almost looked as if the horse was just sleeping, but he wasn't. "Oh my god, Harry."

There were no words from the distraught man as he fell into Louis' arms. As Harry sobbed into his neck, Louis picked up his phone and made the one phone call he didn't want to make. The vet was out within minutes, seeing as he was at a house call just down the road.

"What seems to be the problem?" He caught himself in his throat when he saw the lifeless body of a horse he grew to know over the years. He felt for the older man. He sighed and went over to the horse and his eyes widened before he called for the emergency transport. "Fuck, Billy get the truck here now! There is a horse down, his pulse is very, very weak. I think he may have colicked really bad." The trailer was left at the other barn as his partner was suturing up a horse's leg. It was a good thing he was just finished and he immediately left without a single word to the owners, but they understood what was happening.

"Harry, he's not dead, yet. He may have colicked really bad. Was he acting really weird earlier or yesterday?"

Harry was still sobbing into Louis' chest as a colic still is very bad, so Louis spoke for him. "He was eating and drinking fine, the only thing that I could recall was he hadn't pooped as much as usual, but I just gave him more water. I had made a mental note to come back and that was two hours ago."

David nodded. "So I'm not entirely sure what type of colic he had, but it will be a long journey." He started to talk to them about the different types of colic that could have occured when the trailer came. They needed to get Dillon up, but they don't think they would be able to seeing as he can't get up.

Louis placed Harry over by Bo and he went over to Dillon. "Hey, buddy I know you're hurting and I know you don't have a lot of energy right now but please try to get up for us?" Dillon's eyes were semi open, his eyes were moving around and he started to breathe heavy. Louis gave his ear a scratch when he saw him try to roll himself over to get up. Bo saw the difficulty and he nudged him to get him up. Louis grabbed him by his halter to help steady him as he got up. Once he was on his feet they gave him a few minutes before they started walking, slowly.

Bo called out for his friend as they drove him the 30 minutes to the vet. Louis and Harry in the truck right behind them, hoping for the best.

**

Three hours later was when they had an answer. David came out with a smile on his face. "Part of his colon twisted around itself and I had to removed some of it as it started to die. It was only a half of a foot which isn't terrible, better than most cases. He will stay with us for a couple days before we will let him go home. He is waking up from his anesthesia and you can go see him in about 30 minutes. Someone will come out to bring you to him."

"Thank you, thank you so much." Harry was just frozen, he couldn't speak, he couldn't react. His boy was still alive and once he broke out of his trance and hugged the doctor. David let them be before he went back to deal with other patients.

"See, told you Dillon was a fighter."

Harry looked at him with glassy eyes. "I almost lost him, I was so scared."

"You almost lost him, but he's not gone. He's still here." Louis squeezed the hand he was holding and smiled. "You won't lose him and you won't lose me either."

Harry cocked his eyebrow. "What do you mean I won't lose you?" His eyes widened, "Was your request approved!? You can stay to do your thesis!?" All Louis could do was nod his head before he was engulfed into a bone crushing hug by Harry.

"Harry I can't breathe."

"Sorry, I'm just so happy."

**

Harry dozed off with his head in Louis' lap as they waited for Dillon to be able to have visitors. He had difficulty waking up from the anesthesia so it took twice as long for him to wake up properly.

Harry basically sprinted to him and carefully hugged him. Dillon put his head over Harry's shoulder and they stood like that for what felt like forever.

Louis snapped a photo of the two of them and posted it on his instagram. _"When they say he's just a horse they just don't understand."_

Louis waited until Harry stepped aside before he went over to Dillon. "You scared us buddy," he whispered to where only he could hear it. He hugged him close and pulled away quicker. "Now heal up quickly dude we've got a lot of time to spend together."

Dillon huffed and nudged Louis. "Bo is okay you oaf, misses you though." Dillon took that as an answer before he went to drink some water.

Louis had to pry Harry off of Dillon so they could leave and go tend to their growling stomachs and to check on all of the other animals at the barn, especially Bo.

But, all Harry could think about is how much he owes Louis for today. He wanted to do something for him, but he didn't know how.

 


	10. Day Sixteen

 

 

It was early morning when they returned to the farm, Louis immediately went over to Bo who looked like he had been pacing the whole entire time. He was sweating like he had just been in a race on a 100 degree day. Louis sighed when he felt that he was overheating.

"Come on buddy, let's go get you cooled down." He attached the other side the rope to his halter and managed to get on him quickly. He walked him down to the lake at the bottom of the hill, it was dark and he couldn't see where he was going, but he trusted Bo. He hopped off of him before they got into the water and he let the horse do his own thing. He rolled in the water and Louis grew sad that usually when he did it he huffed or neighed in excitement, but he didn't.

When Bo was finished he got out of the water and instead of Louis getting on him, he walked next to him. "Don't worry your buddy will be back before you know it." They walked slowly back to the barn and Louis put a cooler on him as he brushed his tail and mane. He grabbed a step stool and decided that it was time to pull his mane as it was too long. He sang a few lullabies that he grew up hearing from his grandfather and he felt Bo relax as he was grooming him.

When he was finished, with his mane he trimmed his tail as well. He double checked Bo to see if he was still warm, he was still warm to the touch. He frowned before he went over to take his temperature and furrowed his eyebrows when it was normal. He took a hold of Bo and walked him up to the house and grabbed himself some food and let the horse graze while he ate. It took him an hour to get Bo back to normal. He must have been pacing ever since they had left with Dillon, he worked himself up a lot. Quickly he grabbed a blanket for himself and walked him back to the barn and he laid the blanket on the floor of the stall and he stayed with Bo the whole night.

He woke up the next morning to someone lifting him up out of the stall. "Hmm, what? What happened?"

"I'll watch him, you get some sleep." Louis felt Harry place him on a bed that wasn't his but he didn't question it as he fell back to sleep. It felt like five minutes later, but it was more like two hours, when he felt a body curl under the covers next to him.

Louis this time woke up before Harry and he studied the man in his sleep before he got up to take a quick shower. He came back with a towel wrapped his waist to grab his phone before he went to his room to start writing part of his thesis.

He pulled out his computer and grabbed his notes that he started to write in his time that he was here. They weren't specific tests, but just observations that he had started to look at when he spent time with the horses. He had observations on how horses communicate with each other and he started to talk about how he observed first hand of the horses communicating with their owner and himself the same way. He spoke about communication among horses in the wild and how it's the same with habituated horses. He even found some articles about how other animals communicate and compared them on how they are the same and different. This paper needs to be at least 50 pages and from how much he rambled in the last hour he already has 15 pages written. Now he just needs to come up with a few experiments that can help him determine just how much a horse can communicate with humans.

He let out a loud yawn and he made sure to save his document before he sent it over to his advisor to show him that he's making progress. He also hopes that he will edit the shit out of it so he knows what he's doing right and wrong. He closed his laptop and was going to call his mom before he dozed off on his bed curled into a ball.

Harley came trotting in hoping to get some love, but he just jumped on the bed and curled himself next to Louis and decided it was nap time too.

When Harry came in to tell Louis that lunch was ready he cooed when he found the two of them fast asleep together. He didn't want to wake them, but he knew Louis needed to eat. "Lou, sweetie time to wake up." He brushed the hair out from Louis' eyes and he watched as he blinked them open slowly.

Louis stretched out his limbs to relieve the pressure from his joints from the position he was sleeping in. He smiled up at Harry, "What's for lunch?"

"Fish tacos with fresh lemonade."

"Oooo, that sounds good. I'll be there in a few, let me just call my mom real quick so she knows I'm alive." Harry chuckled before he kissed Louis' cheek softly before he left to feed Harley.

Louis dialed his mom's number and he was startled when his sister answered. "Lottie? Is mom okay?" His heart was racing a mile a minute at this point.

"Yes bro, she's okay. I'm just visiting her so she can meet her new grandson."

"You had the baby already?! Why didn't you tell me!?"

"If you weren't so far up that cowboy's ass then you would have realized I tried calling you last night."

"Sorry, one of the horses here colicked really bad yesterday and I stopped checking my phone when we got the vet. The wifi isn't really the greatest out here anyways." He pulled his phone away from his ear and opened up his messages and found a photo of his nephew Brian. "He's adorable Lots, congratulations."

"Thank you Lou, so when are you coming home?"

"I don't know. I got approved to stay here for my master's thesis and I don't even know if I want to leave after I graduate."

Lottie cooed, "Has someone fallen in love?"

Louis blushed. "I don't know for sure but he makes me happy. He is 100 times better than what's his face. I know he needs me more than anything and I don't want to lose him."

"Well, you know for a fact that we will support whatever decision you want. But, Mom was thinking about coming to visit when you're finished with your studies. She wants to mee the man that stole your heart."

"Okay, it will have to be after I graduate. That will be great."

"Good, now here's mom even though you've been on speaker phone and she can't stop smiling right now."

Louis rolled his eyes. "I love you mom."

"I love you too sweetie. How's the horse doing? How bad was the colic?"

"He had to have a good portion of his colon removed as it twisted over itself. But, he's doing really good. For a 23 year old horse he's quite the fighter."

"Wasn't he the one that had that big gash on his flank a few weeks ago?"

"The same one."

"That poor baby, well I'll let you go. Keep us updated with everything. Maybe when you do the fundraiser we can stop by and help?"

"That'd be great. I'll text Lottie all the details and everything."

"Love you guys!" He heard a giant chorus of i love you's from everyone before he hung up the phone.

He went into the kitchen and found Harry waiting for him before he started to eat. "You didn't have to wait."

"I wanted to." Harry looked up and smiled when Louis took a seat at the table. They gathered the amount of food they wanted before they fell into a silence. "I couldn't help but overhear the conversation, I-um, is it true?"

"What was?" Louis blushed, knowing what was to come.

"What you said about me? That I make you happy?"

Louis's blush went to the tip of his ears and he nodded. "I've never been this happy since I still had my horse. You make me feel things that I've never felt before."

Harry smiled. "Is it weird that you do the same for me?"

Louis shook his head and reached for Harry's hand squeezing it tight. "Not at all."

The two of them finished their food in silence, their hands not letting go until Louis got up out of the chair to go sit on his lap. He looked into Harry's eyes and he put his arms around his neck, feeling Harry's arms fall around his waist. They stood like that for a few minutes before Louis took the initiative and leaned down and kissed Harry. Their lips molded together as they softly kissed each other.

 


	11. Day 16 and Day 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a continuation of day 16 along with the start of day 20.
> 
> Also, I graduated college so I should be able to update all these stories fairly quickly!

**Day Sixteen (continued)** **  
**

 

 

The kiss the two of them shared was nothing either of them felt before. It was pure euphoria and their lips tingled when they pulled apart. They were quiet, both of them were just staring at the other waiting for someone to break the trance.

Louis leaned back in and pecked Harry's lips again, smiling wide when he leaned back. "Does that tell you enough of how I feel about you?"

Harry smiled, "Yes." He nuzzled his nose at the nape of his neck before leaving a little peck and looking back up to Louis. "So, what do you want to do the rest of the day? Well, until afternoon stuff."

Louis just shrugged, still dazed from the kiss. Harry couldn't help but wonder if Louis was this dazed from just a kiss, how dazed would he be if they made out. He didn't want to test his theory just yet, but his mind couldn't help but wander.

"Maybe we could go on a long trail ride?"

"It's not the same without Dillon," Louis pouted and all Harry wanted to do was kiss his pout away, but he refrained from doing so.

Harry sighed. "It was just an idea, we don't have to do it."

"Sorry," Louis muttered and hid his face into Harry's neck. He finally really got a chance to breathe in his scent and he couldn't help but want to breathe it in more. Despite living on a farm, he didn't really smell all that bad. Yeah, he smelled horribly when he was working with the cows and sheep, but once he changes and works with horses, Louis loved that smell. Harry smelled of horses, he smelled of _home_.

Louis smiled, breathed in his scent and mumbled. " _Home_."

~*~

The rest of the day went on like a blur, but the two lovebirds couldn't pass up the chance in kissing each other whenever they could. The two men were as happy as can be and nothing could ever tear them apart.

~*~

 

 

 

** Day Twenty **

 

 

The next couple of days weren't terrible, until a specific date got closer and the nightmares returned. Harry has had to wake up Louis every night by shaking him just to get him out of his trance. Every night he would be gasping for air and screaming for someone Harry didn't know. It wasn't until the 4th night that Harry had to pour ice cold water on him to get him awake and he still had to console the sopping wet man in his bed until he fell back to sleep. (Don't worry he woke Louis back up to change out of his clothes and he brought him into his room).

"You know, if you wanted to just sleep with me all you had to do was ask," Harry joked, trying to get Louis to laugh but all he got was a glare. "Okay, that wasn't needed. Sorry. But, baby I can't help you if you can't tell me what's troubling you."

Louis frowned. "I just, I need you right now. I can't talk about it right now, give me some time please?"

Harry nodded and pecked his lips, getting a soft smile from the crying man. "When you are ready, I'm all ears."

"Thank you, love." Louis yawned and for once in his life he felt safe, he didn't feel like anything could hurt him. He nuzzled his face into Harry's neck and in a matter of seconds he was breathing softly into his neck.

Harry watched him sleep for a few minutes, a concerned look on his face as he tried to get his mind around the reason why Louis was hurting. He wanted to know, he wanted to help him, he didn't want Louis to be like this.

If only Harry knew just how much Louis was hurting. The secret that Louis is hiding isn't something little, it changed his life forever when it happened years ago. The tenth anniversary is two days from now.

Louis wasn't ready for that day to come back to haunt him, but it was coming and he didn't like it.

~*~

The next couple hours went spent sleeping, the cowboy slipping out of the bed quietly making sure he doesn't disturb Louis. Once he got out of the bed, he quickly got changed so that he could start to do morning feedings and stall cleaning. He smiled at Dillon, who had came home two days ago, looking himself again.

When he was at the hospital, they also checked the laceration on his flank and they were pleased with the healing process and now all they have to do it keep it cleaned and covered, the rest is up to Dillon. His stapled for his colic surgery will come out in another week or so, depending on how his suture is healing.

Bo was as happy as can be that he got his buddy back, which only made Harry sad to think of what's going to happen when Dillon actually passes and how Bo will react to the death.

Harry unlocked the run-in stall doors to let them out while he cleaned out their stall. He sadly had to lock Dillon in as he is to be on stall rest until he was healed. Bo didn't mind as he had all of the paddock space to himself. Harry finished quicker than usual and was excited to get back to Louis up at the house.

But, he didn't expect to walk in on a lifeless Louis laying there on the floor.

 


	12. Day Twenty- part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING MENTIONS OF DEPRESSION AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE READ AT OWN RISK

_One hour earlier…_

 

 

Louis woke up in a loud scream, finally coming to when he noticed he was alone. Alone while having a panic attack. But, this wasn’t the first time he’s had to suffer alone. He tried calling out for someone or something but there was no one coming to help him. Was he dreaming? Was no one there anymore? Did everyone finally leave him?

Louis pulled at his hair and groaned. “Breathe, Lou. Breathe,” he told himself, but everytime he closed his eyes, those eyes stared back at him. Those eyes that have been haunting him for majority of his life.

_The familiar voice chuckled. “Cat got your tongue?” he smirked looking at the broken boy on the floor. The man towering over him as he eyed him up and down._

_“Can you just leave me alone?” Louis whispered loud enough for him to hear._

_“And what fun would that be?”_

Louis started scratching at his arms, making them bleed slighty. He needed Harry, but he couldn’t get his words out, he tried to scream but he couldn’t. Just like that day, no one heard his cries until it was too late.

Louis continued to cry as he made his way into the bathroom, he tried to get into the shower to help calm himself down, but nothing was working. He got out of the bath and put the same clothes back on. He went into the kitchen, sniffling and turned on the kettle, that’s when he started to have bad thoughts. Thoughts on how he could just end his life, how it would be a lot easier for everyone without him around.

He saw the block of knives and started to think about which one would be better to use. He eyed the paring knife and knew it would do the trick. He grabbed it and without thinking, he made a giant cut across his wrist. The blood pooling to the floor quickly, his knees buckled out from under him and he collapsed.

 

~*~

 

“LOUIS!!!” Harry screamed as he saw him, the blood pooled around him. There was so much blood, Harry didn’t even know if the man was still alive. He grabbed a few towels and checked for a pulse, it was faint but still there. He grabbed his phone and dialed 911 with his bloody hand as the other was holding down to help stop the blood.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Yes, I’m at Styles Family Farm, I need an ambulance now!” He screamed, tears flowing down his face.

“Sir, take a deep breath. What is wrong?”

“He’s bleeding, he’s losing a lot of blood. Hurry.” The person on the phone took down a few more pieces of information before they hung up just as help arrived. The paramedics acted fast and took over as Harry started calling his family.

He sniffled when he heard a cheery voice. “Louis! How are you honey?”

“It’s not Louis, this is Harry.”

“Ohh, hi Harry. Why do you have my son’s phone? Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know, but you need to get down to NH General as fast as you can.”

Jay started crying. “Did he hurt himself?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Jay sighed. “We will be there as soon as we can. Please stay with my baby boy. Don’t leave him.”

Harry sniffed. “Of course, see you in a bit.” Harry hung up the phone, pocketed it and made sure he had his phone and keys before he left with the paramedics.

Harry was led to the waiting room, people staring him as he was covered in blood, but all he could do was sniffle as he waited to hear what happened.

“Family of Louis Tomlinson?” A nurse called out, and Harry stood up.

“I’m his boyfriend, his family is on his way.”

The nurse nodded and motioned for him to follow her. She led him into a small room. “So, your boyfriend is lucky. He nicked an important vein but through a simple surgery they were able to repair it. But-”

Harry rolled his eyes, knowing that was going to happen. “But, what?”

“He’s got quite the recovery. He lost a lot of blood and it put strain on his heart. It will take some time until he is fully healed. As for the reasoning behind this, when he wakes up he will be evaluated by a psychiatrist to see what the next step with his mental health.”

Harry let out a breath, this was a lot to take in. “Can I see him?”

The nurse nodded. “He is in the ICU, take the elevator around the corner and go to floor 6. Take a left and follow that all the way down. Tell them that you are his fiance or they won’t let you in since it’s family only.”

Harry nodded. “Thank you.”

The nurse smiled. “I wish the two of you the best of luck.” Harry stopped at the bathroom to wash the blood off of him before he followed the instructions the nurse gave him. He had no issue getting into his room. He had to hold back a sob when he saw all the machines that he was hooked up to.

He sat on the chair next to his bed and grabbed his hand and held it carefully. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurting? You always came off as being happy and cheery.”

“Even the happiest of people are fighting a battle,” a voice broke Harry from his trance and was met with a younger looking doctor.

“Dr. Horan, I’ll be evaluating Louis once he wakes up. And you are?” he held out his hand and Harry shook it.

“Harry.”

“Nice to meet you,” He spoke quietly and pulled out a chair. He pulled out a notepad and wrote down a few things. “Since you’re hear, could you tell me a little bit about his mental health?”

“I’ve only known him a short time, but just recently he would wake up from nightmares crying and screaming. I think something happened to him and the anniversary is coming up.”

“Why would you think that?”

“I had a friend who was attacked and every year on the anniversary she would act the same way he was.”

Niall nodded. “I don’t mean to pry, but did she make it?”

Harry shook his head. “She lost her battle to something else last year. She was killed in an accidental shooting by her husband.”

Niall’s eyes widened. “Well, enough of that. What have you noticed recently?”

“Sleeps a lot, scratching his arms anxiously, agitated. Frequent panic attacks. Loss of appetite. And that’s all I can think of.”

Niall nodded as he wrote everything down. “Okay, that’s good for now. I’ll be back later or tomorrow depending on when he wakes up.” He got up and walked over to Harry and he placed a hand on his shoulder. “Everything will turn around. He’s getting the best care.”

“Thank you,” Harry smiled and watched the smaller man walk quietly out of the room.

 

~*~

 

A few hours later after Harry came back from getting a coffee, he heard a cough and looked up to find Louis awake. He pressed the call button and a few nurses were instantly in and tending to Louis. They took out the breathing tube and the on call doctor checked on him before Harry was let back in.

“What happened?” Louis’ spoke quietly.

“I think you were in a panic mode and you hurt yourself.” Harry brushed the hair away from his face.

That’s when Louis broke down in tears. “I’m sorry, I tried so hard to hide it. I tried calling out for you but I couldn’t yell loud enough. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Harry shook his head. “No need to be sorry, there is nothing to be sorry for. I should have caught on that you were hurting. What matters now is you are going to get some help.”

Louis nodded and opened up his arms. “Hold me, please.”

Harry chuckled and held him close. He didn’t get a chance to hold him for much longer until they were interrupted by two female voices.

“Louis, baby,” The older woman, who Harry presumed was his mom and the other girl behind her his sister.

“Hi mummy, I’m sorry.” Harry took that as his cue to step out, with the blonde woman following in suite.

“You must be Harry. I’m Lottie, Lou’s sister.” They shook hands and smiled at each other. “You know Lou talks about you all the time and now I know why.”

“All good things, I presume?”

Lottie nodded. “Always.”

They stood there awkwardly until they decided to give Jay some privacy and they went down to the food court to talk and grab some food.


	13. Day Twenty- part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING MENTIONS OF RAPE, ASSAULT AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. READ AT OWN RISK!

 

 

By the time Harry and Lottie returned, the psychiatrist had returned and was now evaluating Louis. Jay was sitting out at the waiting area until they would be let back in. At that moment that’s when Harry realized that she was blind when Lottie had to show her where everything was.

“How is he?” Lottie asked, taking a seat to Jay’s left and Harry taking the seat to the right.

“He’s hurting, but strong. I have faith he will make it through.”

“You said that the last time, now look where he is...again,” Lottie sighed, her eyes becoming glassy thinking about the last time when Louis thought it was funny that he took a whole bottle of his pain medication from when the incident happened the first time.

“Wait, this happened before?” Harry asked, breaking the brief moment of silence.

“I’m afraid so, but it’s not my story to tell. It involves my mother and Louis.” Lottie sighed, wiping away the stray tear.

Jay sighed and placed her cup on the table to her side. She took off her glasses and moved her hair from her face and turned to Harry. There was a giant scar that went through one eye and then there were burns covering most of the upper part of her face. She wears big enough glasses and keeps her hair in a certain way so she doesn’t get stared at. “10 years ago, Louis and I were attacked.”

Harry stunned. “No.”

Jay started to tell the story. “Louis and I were walking back to the hotel after going to this horse convention. We wanted to grab a taxi but the wait time was too long so we just decided to walk the 20 minutes. The GPS said that the quickest way was to walk through the alleyway a few blocks from the hotel. We didn’t know that it was gang territory. As soon as we stepped in the alley we were surrounded. I tried to reason with them, but they were high and drunk off of god knows what.” Jay let out a breathe, and her hands shook as he wiped a tear away. She rubbed her hands on her jeans anxiously as she continued. “Half of them surrounded me and the other half surrounded Louis. They just started doing whatever to us. Raped both of us. Threw acid on my face after I was stabbed, Louis was burned on his lower back, well most of his bum from the chemical they threw at us. Louis was a touch and go for a long time from the beating he endured when they realized he was gay. They made me watch before I lost my sight.” All three of them were in tears, Harry couldn’t believe someone would ever do that to someone.

“The reason why Louis didn’t want to tell you because there was one time he told someone and they left him. You are the best thing that has ever happened to him and he didn’t want to lose you.” Lottie sighed, wiping her tears.

“That’s stupid, I wouldn’t ever do that to him. He’s the best thing that has ever happened to me too, I wouldn’t do anything to lose him.”

“Both my mum and I told him, but you know how some people can be.”

“Please, I know it will be hard, but the old Lou is there somewhere. He just needs someone that won’t give up on him. And I think you are the right person to do that.”

“I have never seen him this happy since before his horse died. I knew he fell in love when he started to make up excuses on returning home,” Jay smiled fondly, having put her glasses back on her face.

Harry blushed. “I fell for him too. I am jealous that he connected to my pain in the ass horse faster than I ever did.”

“That’s my boy, always was able to connect with all the animals. It was like he spoke their language.”

They continued to talk, getting to know each other a bit before they went back to check on Louis. Jay and Lottie offered Harry to go in first since they had a few things to discuss. Harry got the okay to sit on the bed with him as he tried to calm him down.

“You’re mom told me what happened baby,” Louis flinched, knowing that the nexts words would probably hurt a little, “I’m so, so sorry. I can’t believe you had to go through that. I could never imagine how hard it was. But, please know that you can come to me for anything. I am here to help you. I’m here to help you heal, along with all your animal friends.”

Louis’ crying subsided a little bit and he looked at Harry. “What?”

“What, what?”

“Isn’t this when you tell me you’re going to leave me?”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I am not normal.”

“No on is normal and before you say it I don’t care that you have a past. I don’t care that you have some issues. I’m not leaving you until you tell me it’s done.”

Louis was taken back, he didn’t expect Harry to say something like that to him. He couldn’t think of a way to explain how he was feeling, but he sure as hell could show it. He kissed Harry hard, it nearly made Harry lightheaded from how needy the kiss was.

Harry pulled apart from the kiss and pressed his forehead against his and smiled. “Get some rest love, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Wait, what about the animals?”

“Already taken care of.”

“By who?”

“A friend of mine owed me, he worked with me briefly before so he knows the routine.”

“Okay, good.” Louis nuzzled his nose into Harry’s neck and he drifted off. He knew he couldn’t stay the night as it was ICU but there was still a few hours until visiting hours were over and he knew Louis would wake up before then.

Louis did wake up an hour before visiting hours were over and all four of them sat in the room eating dinner, quietly. It wasn’t an awkward quiet, it came about just after they had spoke. Visting hours came to an end quickly and they were saying their goodbyes until the morning. Jay and Lottie leaving the two lovers alone to say goodnight.

“I’ll be by as soon as morning chores are done. I promise.”

Louis smiled and puckered his lips asking for a kiss, which Harry obliged. “Change your clothes but don’t shower. I want to be able to smell the barn.”

Harry raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on it and agreed to it. “I’ll call the nurses to tell them to let you know I’m coming.” Louis’ phone was left him and besides, he wasn’t allowed to use it until he was in the clear from hurting himself. Harry kissed him again, this time longer and a little more passionately. Technically they weren’t supposed to, but he wasn’t at a high risk, so the nurses let it slide.

“See you tomorrow my love,” Harry mumbled against his lips.

Louis pecked them again. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you more.” Harry smiled and left the room catching up with Jay and Lottie. He had offered earlier to let them stay with him, Jay’s husband was driving down to Harry’s house right now with essentials for the girls. The protested but he insisted as all the hotels in the area were trash, and who would ever pass up staying on a farm for free. Besides, Lottie was sold when Harry told her that she could ride his horses.

They got to his house and the women got out of the car and Lottie was looking around. “Wow, this is a nice place.”

“Thank you, been in my family for years.”

He showed them to their rooms, leaving them to get settled while he went to go check on Dillon. He had to constantly take his vitals to make sure everything was okay. He let out a sigh of relief when he found out he was fine, nothing wrong. He decided to take out a couple saddles, for him and the girls. Lottie would ride Bea, Jay would get on Bo and Harry would get on the horse he was going to surprise Louis with.

His name was Duke. He was a big boned appaloosa clydesdale cross. He was being sold due to no fault of his own and he remembered the many times Louis told Harry that those two breeds were his favorite. Harry has never sat on him but, he was told he was a saint. He got the horses ready and called out for the women. Lottie and Jay couldn’t say no to a ride.

“So, this is Bo, he is my crazy child but he knows his job. I chose him for you because you both have the same personality type. He will take good care of you.” Harry and Lottie helped Jay onto the horse and Bo waited patiently.

“Is that Dillon?” Lottie asked as she was still helping her mom get situated in the saddle.

“Yeah, he’s your brothers favorite.”

“No wonder, he looks so much like his old girl.” Lottie went over to him and rubbed his face. She smiled at him before Harry introduced her to Bea.

“This is my young mare, she’s a spit fire and has a lot of spunk. I think you’ll like her.” Lottie smiled and hopped on her quickly.

“And who is this handsome giant?”

Harry smiled. “Duke, he’s the surprise horse I got for your brother.”

“No you didn’t.”

“What?”

“Louis would never leave. He told me about this specific horse he wanted and sent me an ad for a horse named Duke.”

“I may have seen him look at it over his shoulder…”

“Sneaky boy.”

“When were you going to tell him?”

“Today actually. He came this morning when Louis was asleep. He was supposed to be his pick me up.”

“Now he can be the one who helps him heal along with you.

Harry nodded in agreement and got on him. He loved him immediately, he felt like a couch. He was comfortable and fast. He led the girls around his property and when they finally got back it was dark. They helped him put the horses away and waited for the take out they ordered.

They spent the rest of the night talking, Harry meeting Louis’ stepfather, they all getting along like they have known each other for years.

~*~

Louis hated being alone. He tried his hardest to fall asleep but it wasn’t working. He turned the T.V on and hoped that he could just tire himself out. He missed the warm embrace from Harry, he really could have used him right now. He didn’t like feeling like this. He wanted Harry to help take his pain away.

He couldn’t believe what Harry had told him earlier that day about how he was never leaving him and for once he believed him. He had been lied too constantly and they way Harry spoke to him he knew it was genuinely true. He couldn’t wait to be back with Harry and their barn family.

Louis looked down at the blood stained bandages on his wrist and sighed. Why was he such an idiot, this could have been prevented if he only confided in Harry. He just didn’t want to be the burden, he was making himself suffer in silence so that someone didn’t complain about his whining.

But, he knew from the beginning that Harry was different, he just didn’t know why he didn’t talk to him or talk to his mom.

Louis sighed, his eyes finally becoming heavy and he soon fell asleep. He started having a nightmare but his mind twisted it around and instead it was Harry saving his life.

Maybe Louis will be alright after all.

 


End file.
